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

Celebrating the Solstice

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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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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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