And we are back! This year’s musical Advent Calendar is divided into five themes, mostly because I fell down a Rorate rabbit hole on day one, and the next thing I knew, it was Rorate all the way. Which is an improvement on jingle all the way, if you ask me. Hopefully this exploration of how different composers have approached similar themes will be as interesting to you as it is to me!
Drop Down, Ye Heavens, From Above
December 1 – Rorate Caeli, by Josef Zebrowski
December 2 – Rorate Caeli, by Francisco Guerrero
December 3 – Rorate Caeli, by Jacob Handl (also Byrd, Palestrina)
December 4 – Rorate Caeli, by Josef Rheinberger
December 5 – Rorate Caeli, by Judith Weir (also Nestor)
Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord
December 6 – Prepare ye the way of the Lord, by Michael Wise
December 7 – Comfort ye / Ev’ry Valley, by George Frederick Handel
December 8 – Vox clamantis in deserto, by Bartolomeo Tromboncino (also de Wert)
December 9 – Prepare ye the way of the Lord, by John-Michael Tebelak (also O Come O Come Emmanuel)
December 10 – The Record of John, by Orlando Gibbons
A Virtuous Rose Up-Springing
December 11 – Det är en ros utsprungen, by Praetorius and Sandström
December 12 – Virga Jesse, by Anton Bruckner
December 13 – Den yndigste rose er funden, by Josef Klug and Ole Faurschou
December 14 – There is no rose of such virtue, Trad, sung by Chanticleer (also versions by Britten, Joubert, Mediaeval Baebes, Sting)
December 15 – There is no rose of such virtue, by Elizabeth Maconchy
Lullay, Lulla, Lullaby
December 16 – I saw a Maiden, Trad. Basque
December 17 – Lullay myn lyking, by Philip Lawson
December 18 – Coventry Carol, Anonymous (also Lullay, Lullow from the Ritson manuscript)
December 19 – O Little One Sweet and Schlafe, Mein Liebster, both by J.S. Bach
December 20 – The Lamb, by John Tavener
Glad Tidings Of Great Joy
December 21 – Behold, I bring you glad tidings, by Orlando Gibbons
December 22 – Jauchzet! Frohlocket!, by J.S. Bach
December 23 – Behold, I bring you glad tidings, by Henry Purcell
December 24 – Quem Vidistis Pastores, by Francis Poulenc