Some things are the same every year: the Advent Carol Service in York Minster, the girls’ carol concerts, family viewing of A Box of Delights and other films too embarrassing to mention. This year there will be a first performance with my new trio – me on piano (I’m not a pianist but can just about keep up), with granddaughters Emily and Grace on trumpet and cello respectively. Can’t imagine a trumpet & cello piano trio? Think Jeeves and Wooster theme tune (which is our encore if required) and take it from there. I can’t reveal our repertoire as we’re hoping to take the rest of the family by surprise, but I can say that I’ve been inspired by a carol collected by Lucy Broadwood in the 1890s and arranged by an Australian composer with very large hands, who made a ravishing version for piano (and included the text but with no provision for singing it). 

There are two new Christmas albums to add to the pile (we still buy CDs and haven’t yet succumbed to the speaker in the kitchen) each spectacular in its own way. Trio Mediaeval’s Yule is a glorious collaboration with jazz and folk musicians which takes the whole concept of a Christmas album somewhere else. I first encountered the Trio eons ago at a Hilliard Ensemble summer school in Cambridge. They were very soon taken by ECM and the rest is history. Since those early coaching days I  have sung with them, produced albums and written them many liner notes. They are one of the most innovative vocal groups on the planet, and they continue to astonish their fans with projects no one else has thought of. Yule is a celebration of that nexus where carols and Christmas music meet something older and more mysterious. The alchemy thus released is conjured up by the Trio together with Sinikka Langeland on kantele, Vegar Vårdal on hardanger fiddle and violin, Anders Jormin on bass, Helge Norbakken on percussion and Arve Henriksen (who co-produced with Morten Lindberg) on trumpet and organ. If you stream just one track, the Trio’s arrangement of Lullay Lullay (As I lay on Yoolis night) is the most magical version I’ve ever heard. The CD comes in two versions, stereo and Immersive Audio for those who have the equipment. Reviews so far have been ecstatic, unsurprisingly - there is no Christmas album remotely like it…

…though Ye Olde Songs by Linn Andrea Fuglseth’s  Bolteløkka Jentekor is an equally extraordinary album. It also features Trio Mediaeval and an array of supporting musicians  (particularly fine fiddle playing from Vegar Vårdal on both abums) alongside various members of the family Fuglseth.  The album celebrates Linn’s founding of her children’s choir 20 years ago when she couldn’t find a suitable choir for her daughter. It’s a riotous and exuberant celebration of Nordic legends, ancient Christmases and simple seasonal joy. The performers range from tiny excited children whose first recording this surely is, to older choir members who work happily alongside some amazing professionals. You don’t need to speak Norwegian or Latin – the children will take you with them all the way.

Song…

Can I suggest to anyone who hasn’t yet invested in Song that it’s especially appropriate as a present for anyone who wants a book that’s nothing to do with Christmas. Except, obviously, that it’s in 12 parts, one for each of the 12 days… I was hoping to reach beyond the academic bubble and got so far beyond it that it was a Country Life Book of the Year. 

There’s also a discount on the audio version (not the same as Amazon’s Audible which also has a special offer) until December 12th . I should say that they wouldn’t let me read it, so I much prefer the print...

Notre Dame

Back in 2019 Jez Wells and I wrote 'The Lost Voice of Notre Dame' about the organ for History Today. We were all in a state of shock, so it's fantastic to be able to welcome the reincarnation of the cathedral in time for Christmas.