errands and stuff

Hokay. New modem installed. Old modem then shipped back to Verizon. Parcels shipped overseas. Last few holiday presents ordered on line. Almost caught up with everything.

So here's some more of our Christmas CD listening:
Golden Bough: Winter's Dance. Another one of my favorites; several secular songs including "Logs to Burn" which is a nice a capella number of advice on what kinds of wood to use for a fire. Several less-familiar Christmas songs, including some that are clearly pagan in origin, and some that involve a lot more drinking than we usually associate with Christmas. Somewhat Celtic flavored.
Sellers Engineering Band and Huddersfield Choral Society: A Christmas Celebration. An British brass band - definitely sounds like Christmas. Loud, bright, fun. Several carols that are less familiar to an American audience. Kwmbayah (Kumbayah is how we usually see it spelled; the w would be the Welsh spelling, one presumes), which I don't normally think of as a Christmas song.
Annie Haslam: It Snows in Heaven Too. Annie Haslam is the soprano lead singer from the group Renaissance. Lovely voice. Fairly standard collection of carols, some with a bit of unusual harmony, though.

Whoops, there's more, but we've got to run off to perform this evening's Christmas concert.

Continuing with the music stuff

The concert went well - another giant retirement community, this one not far from our house. The conductor of the Baltimore Symphonic Band tells the same awful jokes to the audience at every concert; we're already tired of them.

More CDs:
Grimethorpe Colliery Band: A White Christmas. It's bright, it's loud, it's brass. Says Christmas to me! Actually, quite a few of our albums will fall into this category. This one has a few traditional carols, a bunch of more modern ones - I rather like "Walking in the Air."

Maddy Prior with the Carnival Band: A Tapestry of Carols. Maddy is/was the soprano lead singer of the folk-rock group Steeleye Span. Instantly recognizable voice. This one's mostly traditional carols. The British version of what is in America "Angels We Have Heard on High" uses a different translation, hence the title "Angels from the Realms of Glory" which is also taken rather faster than "Heard on High." "Personent Hodie" remains one of my favorites.

A Canadian Brass Christmas. Um, it's loud, it's bright, it's brass. Canadian Brass do have some unique arrangements and harmonizations of the traditional carols, and they include the Canadian carol "The Huron Carol."

Mannheim Steamroller: A Fresh Aire Christmas. Some different choices from the other Mannheim Steamroller album we've already listened to. But all recognizably Chip Davis arrangements. Mostly traditional stuff, one original composition by Davis called "Traditions of Christmas." As before, almost elevator music but always pleasant to catch a few minutes of.
Vince Guaraldi Trio: A Charlie Brown Christmas. From the cartoon TV special of the same name. Instantly recognizable to most Americans - wouldn't be Christmas to most baby boomers if we didn't hear this one. A lot of original music for jazz trio featuring piano, interspersed with jazzy arrangements of traditional carols.

Wynton Marsalis: Crescent City Christmas Card. Lessee, what was that line about loud, bright, brass, again? Mostly traditional carols, mostly in Marsalis' own arrangements.

A Nonesuch Christmas from the Baroque, Renaissance, and Middle Ages. Krumhorns! Suite #2 from Banchetto Musicale by Schein. Gabrielli. Speer - some brass fanfares (quel surprise!). Lots of a capella by large chorus. Bach. Mostly, this is not familiar Christmas stuff; a nice change of pace.

That almost catches us up to this evening!