The Whole Music Experience

Holiday Recordings 2011 Cantus Christmas with Cantus Independent release Elisabeth Lohninger Band Christmas in July Jazz Sick Records Putumayo Presents Celtic Christmas Putumayo World Music Secret Garden Winter Poem Heart of Space Records/Valley Entertainment I find holiday music deeply healing.  Here we are in the midst of the darkest time of year, but like a cup of hot chocolate or lights strung along houses, holiday music offers us warmth and comfort. When I was a child, I couldn't wait for the holidays to arrive because I could pull out the Christmas albums and sing along with them.  I lost all sense of time and space.  I felt joy singing those songs, even the sad ones.  The first song I ever learned to play on the parlor organ was Silent Night and to this day, I still find the melody haunting.  My brother loved the song Do You See What I See? and certainly it was a favorite of mine too. Ther...

Holiday Recordings (In My Collection) I gave most of my holiday recordings to my parents. And the list you’ll find here features Christian and pagan music. I have not received any holiday recordings from other spiritual and religious traditions, but I'm open to recordings featuring music for Kwanza and other religious traditions. But on this list, I’ve included Corsican polyphony, Nicoise and Provencal polyphony, early music, early colonial music from Latin America, polyphony and carols from the United States (early music), choral music from Eastern Europe, and some unique small ensemble music. Of course you’ll also find a recording of Handel Messiah , which is also featured during Easter season. I realize that these recordings don’t comprise a comprehensive collection, (Tchaikovsky’s incidental music for the ballet The Nutcracker is missing from this list). However, the loving spirit of all the recordings comes through loud and clear, especially on a good stereo syst...

Healing with Holiday Music; Practicing Cultural and Spiritual Diversity Depending on your cultural and spiritual perceptions, holiday music can provide healing through nostalgia, relaxation, and joy. However, this includes a few caveats. An overdose of holiday music (heard in shopping malls, banks, and post offices), could lead to overkill and brainworms (a song hook repeating itself incessively).  Nostalgic elements work best with people who have happy memories of the holidays, but those individuals who lost love ones or suffered a tragedy during the holiday season won't find holiday music particularly healing.  They might avoid it entirely. Don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone practices the same religious rituals as you do. Holidays from a variety of religious traditions, including Judaism (Hanukkah), Christianity (Christmas), South African (Kwanza), Islamic, and pagan (Solstice) are practiced by people among us.  Each of these traditions ha...

Mathias Eick, Pasha Hanjana and Ertan Tekin The Three Wise Men Kirkelig Kulturverksted Stephen Brandt-Hansen In the Light of Christmas Kirkelig Kulturverksted Since 2003 when I discovered the Norwegian blues musician Knut Reiersrud, holiday music released on the Norwegian label, Kirkelig Kulturverksted (KKV), has become a tradition for me. Founder of the label, Erik Hillestad and his colleagues produce holiday music with an ethnic edge, certainly the holiday records I listened to as a child did not feature Iranian nays (a reed flute) and Turkish instruments—I only wish that they had! A few years back, the Palestinian vocalist Rim Banna made her European debut on a KKV holiday recording. She would later follow up with three successful solo albums released on the label. For the 2009 holiday releases, trumpet Mathias Eick and tenor Stephen Brandt-Hansen set the stars in the firmament. The Three Wise Men featuring three wise musicians hailing from Norway (multi-instrumenta...

Aage Kvalbein & Iver Kleive Julemeditasjoner (Christmas Meditations) Kirkelig Kultverksted (KKV) The Norwegian Girls Choir with Kari Bremnes Julens Hjerte (The Heart of Christmas) KKV I received two Nordic holiday recordings, Christmas Meditations and The Heart of Christmas in the mail a few days ago. I wasn't sure that I would have much time to listen to them until I slipped a disc in my neck and had to rest for a couple of days. Fortunately, for me, the repertoire on both recordings lent itself well to relaxing. I have enjoyed the music too even though I normally do not listen to holiday music. This year however is a little different because I moved to a small town which is currently decked for the holidays. We also experienced a bit of snow this morning and well, it kind of gets you in the mood. Cellist Aage Kvalbein pairs up with pianist Iver Kleive (two regulars on the KKV label) to bring us a collection of meditative holiday songs. The collection incl...