Two Decembers ago, I came across a wonderful online Advent Calendar, featuring a different piece of advent music for each day performed by the wonderful musicians of Trinity Church in New York City. I’m sad to report that the music links on that calendar don’t appear to be working anymore, and this year’s calendar at the same site, while wonderful too, doesn’t have music. :'(
The holiday season without music? Why, that’s like a day without sunshine, or coffee, or kitty cats, or… fill in whatever you feel makes life worth living!
Off I went to the Google, confident that I would find a musical advent calendar somewhere on this great, big internet.
Well, I haven’t yet found anything that gives me the classical fix I’m jonesing for, but I did find two things that are notable in their own ways. Click Mr. Readmore for the particulars!
The first one comes from — where else? — the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in London. Yeah, I’m scratching my head, too, but what the heck? 🙂
This calendar follows a “Christmas Around the World” theme — each day includes a picture postcard from a different country, accompanied by a modern interpretation of a traditional carol.
So far, my favorites among the musical selections are the jazz-inflected arrangements by pianist Max Osvald. Other days feature music in a techno/electronica vein, and I must confess, that’s not a style that warms the cockles of my heart. But it’s all very well-done, and worth checking out.
Next up: The Punk Rock Advent Calendar! The word on the street is that a variety of punk rock clichés are buried within the selections, so punk aficionados will want to listen in and see if they can collect them all. If you’re still racking your brains for gift ideas, you can download the songs for free — Mom and Dad will love it! Oh, and just try peeking ahead, punk — I dare ya! 😀
I’m still sad that I have failed thus far to locate a choral or classical calendar. If anyone knows of one that I’ve missed, please send it in! Next year, I’ll have to campaign for one… or do one myself!
One last thing — BBC Radio 3 does have something they’re calling A Bach Christmas Calendar. The main page plays a Bach excerpt, and each day has an audio snippet of Bach history. Which is cool, but I want more music, not just talk about it — I can do that anytime! 😉
