@classicalmusic
Christmas with The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge,
Herbert Howells
Johann Sebastian Bach -
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck -
William Byrd -
Tomás Luis de Victoria
...
Christopher Gray, dirigent
Alexander Robson, orgel
"One of the weirdest and most convoluted Christmas stories that I have ever read, filled with surprises, suspense, thrills, fast paced action, danger, gore and grit... a crazy page turner, a roller coaster of a holiday ride."
For those long cold dark nights ... Spirits of the Season: Portraits of the Winter Otherworld written by Dr Bob Curran and illustrated by Andy Paciorek
Christmas pudding is a relatively recent concoction of two classic medieval dishes: a runny porridge known as “plum pottage”, which featured any seasonal mixture of meats, dried fruits, and spices; and “figgy pudding” (yes, the one mentioned in the song), a mixture of sweet and savory ingredients bagged with flour and cooked by steaming.
Christmas Cheer - from The Dancing Master, Henry Playford, 1703
Chestnut - from The English Dancing Master, John Playford, 1651
Comfort and Joy - named after the chorus of the ballad 'On Christmas Day', first printed c1700/1, and better known to us now as the carol 'God rest you merry gentlemen'.
In the Ebionite scriptures Jesus condemned animal sacrifice in the temple of Jerusalem and sought to forever bring that practice to an end. The Ebionite or Hebrew Gospel quotes Jesus as saying, “I have come to abolish the sacrifices, and if you cease not from sacrificing, my wrath will not cease from you.”
Fuck that Elf: it's so stupid and a forced, modern tradition of materialism & consumerism atop a forced, older tradition of materialism & consumerism.
Also, it's exceedingly creepy, but not in the good way.
‘Tis the season to remember that all of Santa’s reindeer are female.
You see, males drop their antlers after the Autumn mating season, so since the world’s most celebrated reindeer are always depicted with spectacular antlers, we must assume that Ol’ Saint Nick’s entire intrepid team - including Rudolph - are female. #science#Christmas
I hate this song with the fiery passion of a million suns and this is the first and only thing that has made me consider it in a new and exciting way. I still despise it, but I will now supplant this reality atop it whenever I hear that cursed song.