17th Century Christmas music

esme — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:17:40 +0000

I love Christmas carols, especially the traditional ones from 19th century England. But if you want to go farther back in time and listen to 17th century Christmas music, make sure you get these songs from the album “Angels and Shepherds” (in MP3 format) recorded by the Netherlands Bach Society (Nederlands Bachvereniging). Among the composers whose work they perform are Bach and Buxtehude. The Netherlands Bach Society’s choir and Capella Figuralis perform the vocals. Jos van Veldhoven, is the conductor. Hearing these heavenly voices and melodies brings me closer to the first Christmas.

You can buy the CD from Amazon.com: Angels & Shepherds 17th Century Christmas

The luxury of silence

esme — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:20:45 +0000

We are assaulted everyday by noise — sounds from cars, alarms, security people yelling in airports and music (or muzak) in stores, cafes, bars and restaurants. We can’t have decent conversations or concentrate on what we are doing. So I enjoyed this article from Salon talks about No Music Day in Britain (November 21) where “radio stations, stores, recording studios and scores of music lovers took a laudable vow of musical silence.”

How about no TV in restaurants unless it’s a sports bar where people gather around to watch a game? Recently I was in a Vietnamese restaurant with my parents and my brother. We couldn’t keep our eyes off a large TV screen that was showing a Vietnamese song-and-dance program. It definitely interfered with the flow of conversation. That TV screen was intrusive. A lot of Asian restaurants have these big-screen TVs and I wish they’d just take them down. The staff are not watching it because they’re too busy serving customers. So who’s it for? The customers? They’re trying to eat and having conversations!

But even that’s not enough. There should be less advertising all around. We are assaulted by billboards on the street, ads on the Internet and TV, phone calls from telemarketers, junk email, spam, everywhere! There’s no place to hide. The result is the opposite that advertisers want to accomplish: people tune them out because they have become part of the landscape like street lights. But that act of tuning out takes a lot of energy and having all that stuff around disturbs our peace of mind. It comes at a real cost.

Rose Cantine » Music

17th Century Christmas music

The luxury of silence