An Annual Tradition

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Victoria Janssen

My chief hobby is choral singing, which for me goes along with listening to music. Lots of music. Frequently.

Most Decembers, I get the urge to listen to Christmas music (generally sacred, not secular). It’s usually something completely different from whatever my choir happens to be singing for the holidays.

My favorite genres are early music, such as that from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, Baroque, and Folk, with some old-school American hymns mixed in. To give you an idea of some music I like, check out the ensemble Boston Camerata.

After much prowling around online and listening to samples, I finally settled on The Cambridge Singers’ Christmas Album – they’re a choir that doesn’t perform, they only do recordings, and they’re conducted by the well-known British composer John Rutter. I liked the mix of songs on this particular cd, as well as the singers’ precision. I guess I’ll find out after a few listens if it goes into my regular December rotation.

You can listen to samples here, if you’re interested.

About Victoria Janssen

Victoria Janssen [she, her] currently writes cozy space opera for Kalikoi. The novella series A Place of Refuge begins with Finding Refuge: Telepathic warrior Talia Avi, genius engineer Miki Boudreaux, and augmented soldier Faigin Balfour fought the fascist Federated Colonies for ten years, following the charismatic dissenter Jon Churchill. Then Jon disappeared, Talia was thought dead, and Miki and Faigin struggled to take Jon’s place and stay alive. When the FC is unexpectedly upended, Talia is reunited with her friends and they are given sanctuary on the enigmatic planet Refuge. The trio of former guerillas strive to recover from lifetimes of trauma, build new lives on a planet with endless horizons, and forge tender new connections with each other.
This entry was posted in holiday, music. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to An Annual Tradition

  1. L.N. Hammer says:
    December 7, 2011 at 9:36 am

    My favorite Christmas album is not actually choral, as most songs are accompanied, but some are a capella: Medieval Christmas by Pro Cantione Antiqua. It’s pretty much got all your favorite non-church-service seasonal songs of the era, rendered with the correct boisterous spirit.

    —L.

  2. Victoria Janssen says:
    December 7, 2011 at 9:38 am

    Ooh, that one sounds good. I think I will have to add it to my wishlist.

  3. LVLMLeah says:
    December 7, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    I like this one. I think I will get it. Am always looking out for some new music for Christmas. I like to listen even during the year. But I don’t have much choral stuff other than traditional classical or opera Christmas music.

  4. Victoria Janssen says:
    December 7, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    I was pleased that the one recording had a lot of pieces I’d sung at various times over the years, but had no recordings of.

  5. Liz Mc2 says:
    December 7, 2011 at 8:55 pm

    Oh, I have another one of theirs, Christmas Day in the Morning, which I really love. When I first moved to Canada I was into giving my American family Canadian gifts and one year it was CDs from local choirs–Vancouver has a number of excellent ones. I acquired some for myself while I was at it, and love to get them out every year.

  6. Victoria Janssen says:
    December 8, 2011 at 5:02 pm

    It’s weird because I don’t usually like the music playing constantly in stores. Maybe it’s because at home I choose what to listen to.

Comments are closed.