Poster Winter light breaks through the trees
Winter light breaks through the trees
Photo: Jon Gohman
Performance Today®

Celebrating the Solstice

It's the Winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, with the shortest daylight hours and the longest of nights. It feels like a good moment for a quiet break. We invite you to pause, reflect, and join us for some musical contemplation.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Peter Tchaikovsky: The Seasons: December
Takako Nishizaki, violin | Queensland Symphony Orchestra | Peter Breiner, conductor
Album: Tchaikovsky: The Seasons
Naxos 553510

Camille Saint-Saens: Serenade d'hiver
Les Elements | Joel Suhubiette, conductor
Album: Serenade d'hiver
Mirare 650

Carolyn Surrick: Winter's Falling Light
Ensemble Galilei
Album: Surrounded By Angels
Sono Luminus 92173

Traditional/Anders Norudde/Sue Richards: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, Konvulsionslaten, and The Celt
Ensemble Galilei
Album: Surrounded By Angels
Sono Luminus 92173

Florence Price: Song for Snow
VocalEssence | Philip Brunelle, conductor
Album: Got the Saint Louis Blues: Classical Music in the Jazz Age
Clarion/VocalEssence

Richard Danielpour: The Enchanted Garden: Winter Solstice
Xiayin Wang, piano
Album: Richard Danielpour: The Enchanted Garden - Preludes Books I & II
Naxos 559669

Richard Danielpour: Lullaby for Piano
Stefano Greco, piano
Album: Danielpour: Twelve Etudes For Piano
Naxos 8559922

Richard Danielpour: Song Without Words
Stefano Greco, piano
Album: Danielpour: Twelve Etudes For Piano
Naxos

Gustav Holst, arr. John Ferguson: The Heart Worships
St Olaf Massed Choir | St. Olaf Orchestra | James E. Bobb, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Olaf C. Christiansen: The Song of Peace
St. Olaf Choir | Anton Armstrong, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Tom Trenny, arr. Jeremy J. Bankson: I Will Make A Way
St. Olaf Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Orchestra | Tesfa Wondemagegnehu, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Hubert Parry, arr. John Ferguson, orch. Edward Elgar: O Day of Peace
St. Olaf Orchestra, St. Olaf Massed Choir | James E. Bobb, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis, MN

Hour 2

David Dickau: Love Came Down at Christmas
Choral Arts Ensemble | Barbara Depman, conductor
Album: MPR Taste Of The Holidays, Vol. 4
MPR 20132

Xavier Montsalvatge: Cradle Song
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano | Sharon Isbin, guitar
Album: Alma Espanola
Bridge 9491

Felix Mendelssohn: Song without Words No. 36 "Cradle Song" Op. 67
Javier Perianes, piano
Album: Lieder Ohne Worte
Harmonia Mundi 902195

Pietro Yon: Gesu Bambino
Massed Choirs of St. Olaf College | The St. Olaf Orchestra | Sigrid Johnson, conductor
The 2014 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Skoglund Center Auditorium, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 "Winter Dreams" Movements 3 & 4
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra | Mariss Jansons, conductor
Album: Tchaikovsky: The Complete Symphonies
Chandos 8672

Thomas Ravenscroft, arr. Abbie Betinis: Remember, O Thou Man
Jacqui Kerrod, harp | Katharine Dryden, viola | Pro Arte Singers | Arthur Sjogren, conductor
First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan, CT

Matthew Peterson: Corde Natus
St. Olaf Orchestra | Steven Amundson, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Traditional, J. Scott Irvine: I Saw Three Ships
True North Brass:  Joan Watson, natural horn | Stuart Laughton, bodhran
Album: A True North Christmas
TNB 4

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