Christmas wears many faces - Peace, The Virgin born child, incarnation and temptations facing the unexplainable, are celebrated with morning chant, christmas trees and cartoon films on the TV. Beside the church traditions and contemplation about the spiritual message of the season, the commersial stress, trafic jam and last-minute-presents roar. Togetherness, warmth and sincerity are strengthened amongst family and friends while lonelyness grows enormously for those missing somebody to share the event with. This the second CD from Svanholm Singers Male Chamber Choir consists of 20 snapshots from the various moments and shapes of Christmas. The music covers from Medievial hymns, romantic era songs and Russian chant up to contemporary music. The warm, cosy feeling in traditional Christmas songs, the candles in the small cottage, folk dancing and hot food plates are contrasted by modern tales of a rough Nordic winter landscape and streets full of snow. Spirituality and mysticism stand side by side with the common and playfull in this the darkest month of the year - december! Svanholm Singers, Male Chamber Choir cond: Sofia Söderberg Eberhard You need Real Audio to listen to this file: Veljo Tormis: Jõulud tulevad Listen to all nosag CDs on the air: "YESS music" with the whole CD-catalogue of nosag records

THE CRITICS:

Tidningen Körsång: "Christmas CDs usually are very predictable and causing a slight gasp. This is NOT the case with the well-timed CD ´december` from Svanholm Singers. It starts off as an ordinary chistmas record though, with the chistmas song by Sibelius and Nordqvist´s ´Jul, jul...` but after that the choir enters an exciting and very wellsounding journey through styles, eras and the un-expected, all in company with the light voices of this young male choir and in very idiomatic, often new, arrangements. When the choir visited secret worlds in music by Kortekangas, Rautavaara, Tormis and contemporaryly arranged gregorian hymns, slightly touched Rachmaninov´s Vsenosjtjnoje bdenije and a wonderful Three Kings by Cornelius in the score version of Robert Sund, the company returns to reality with Max Reger´s Marien Lied (soloist is the young conductor of the choir, Sofia Söderberg Eberhard, also delivering several of the fresh new arrangements on the CD) and closes the trip with Stille Nacht, (arranged by choir member Stefan Engström) with both beautiful and omewhat strange harmonies. This is a MUST LISTEN christmas CD and maybe also -gift for people who got bored with those predictable x-mas records, with OH SO BIG artists but soooooo... (yaaaaawn) common repertory.".