#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHoliday 2024 Week 1

December is a time of traditions. And #ClassicsaDay posing the #ClassicalHoliday challenge is one of them. In December, post classical performances in your social media feeds. The performances should be works written for a December event (sacred or secular) or composed in December.

For my part, I'll be posting works from the Middle Ages up to the present. We really don't have to put up with novelty Christmas tunes.

12/02/24 Anon.: Hymn to St. Nicolas

Nicholas of Myra, canonized in 1446, died on Dec. 6, 3456. St. Nicholas' feast day was established on December 6 for that reason.

 

12/03/24 William Byrd: This Day Christ Was Born

Byrd was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I -- although he converted to Catholicism. He produced seasonal sacred music for the Protestant court (and also secretly for Catholics).   

12/04/24 Georg Gebel (the younger): Weihnachtsoratorium

Gebel was active in the early 1700s and worked mainly in Eastern Germany. This is one of his two Christmas Cantaats, written in the 1740s.

 

12/05/24 Healy Willan: Here we are in Bethlehem

Organist and composer Willan emigrated to Canada in 1913. He composed over 800 works and is best known for his choral and organ compositions.

 

12/06/24 Thomas Luis de Victoria: Ave Maria

Victoria was considered one of the greatest sacred music composers of the late Renaissance. His music was well-known both in Spain and Italy (especially in the Papal City).