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Budapest, Ljubljana, Stockholm, Cologne, Arnstadt and Munich

Andrew McGregor is our guide for the rest of this day of Christmas Around Europe, featuring concerts from Budapest, Ljubljana, Stockholm, Cologne, Arnstadt and Munich.

Andrew McGregor continues the day-long festival of Christmas and singing from across Europe and Canada in the European Broadcasting Union’s annual Christmas music day. In a year where singing in choirs has largely been curtailed due to the global pandemic, choirs and orchestras come together in socially distant performances of music that celebrates the joy of singing and the wonder of Christmas.

4pm
An Advent concert given by Honvéd Férfikar (Honvéd Men's Chorus) from Budapest.

JS Bach: Jesu, joy of man's desiring, from 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147'
Jacobus Gallus: Natus est nobis
Handel: Thanks be to Thee, O Lord
Rachmaninov: We Praise Thee, O Mother of God
Rejoice, o Virgin (Ave Maria) from 'Vespers (All-Night Vigil), op. 37
Schubert: Psalm 23, D. 796
Franck: Panis Angelicus
Mihály Mosony: Ave Maria
Ambrož Čopi: Totus tuus
Kodaly: Evening Song
Jan Nieland: Magnificat
Saint-Saëns: Tollite hostias, from 'Oratorio de Noël, op. 12'
Randol Alan Bass: Gloria

Tamás Egresi, baritone
András Decsi, tenor
András Stampay-Komesz, baritone
László Adrián Nagy, piano
Honvéd Men's Chorus
Richárd Riederauer, conductor

5pm
An archive Christmas concert from 21 December 2014 from Ljubljana, featuring the Slovenian Philharmonic Chorus directed by Martina Batič
Music will include:

Valentin Vasilyovych Silvestrov: Liturgical Chants
César Cui: Magnificat
Georgy Vasilevich Sviridov: Having beheld a mysterious Nativity
Traditional (Russia): Shepherds of Bethlehem
Pavel Chesnokov: All of Creation Rejoices in Thee, op. 15/11
Franz Xaver Gruber: Silent Night, Holy Night

Monika Fele, soprano
Mojca Bitenc, soprano
Edita Garčević Koželj, alto
Gašper Banovec, tenor
Martin Logar, tenor
Tomaž Koder, baritone
Slovenian Philharmonic Chorus
Martina Batič, conductor

6pm
A Jazz Christmas Concert with international jazz trombonist, Nils Landgren and Friends, from Stockholm.

Mel Tormé: The Christmas Song
Ron Sexsmith: Maybe This Christmas
Mervyn Edwin Warren: Who Would Imagine a King
Gary Hines: Love is Born
Ron Miller: Someday at Christmas
Frank Loesser: Baby, It's Cold Outside
Trad: Ding Dong! Merrily on High
Roxanne Seeman: Everyday is Christmas
Traditional (Sweded): Prepare the way for the Lord
John Frederick Coots: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
Gustaf Lazarus Nordqvist: Yule, yule, radiant yule
Handel: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, aria from Messiah, HWV 56

7pm
Christmas Concert with Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert, from Cologne

Telemann: Siehe! Ich verkündige euch grosse Freude, TVWV 1:1333
Tönet die Freude, belebte Trompeten, TVWV 1:1410
Darzu ist erschienen die Liebe Gottes, TVWV 1:166

Veronika Winter, soprano
Anne Bierwirth, contralto
Georg Poplutz, tenor
Matthias Vieweg, baritone
Das Kleine Konzert
Rheinische Kantorei
Hermann Max, conductor

8pm – 9.30pm
The vocal group Ensemble Polyharmonique and Thüringer Bach Collegium perform parts of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Taking place in the church in Arnstadt where J.S. Bach held his first post as organist (1703-1707), this concert will feature the first three cantatas of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, given by two ensembles that specialise in historically informed performances.

J.S. Bach: Cantatas I-III, from 'Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248
Ensemble Polyharmonique
Thüringer Bach Collegium

9.30 – 11pm

Christmas Concert with Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra and Howard Arman, from Munich

Johannes Eccard: Übers Gebirg Maria geht
Praetorius: Angelus ad pastores ait
Traditional (Germany): Ach bittrer Winter
Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe du
Scheidt: O Jesulein süss
JS Bach: Ich steh´ an Deiner Krippen hier, BWV 469
Arvo Pärt: ...which was the son of...
Magnificat
Maxwell Davies : Four carols From O magnum mysterium:
O magnum mysterium
Haylle comly and clene
Alleluia, pro Virgine Maria
The Fader of Heven
Traditional (England) - Coventry Carol
William Ballet: Lute-book lullaby
Warlock: Bethlehem Down
Traditional (Germany):
Resonet in laudibus
Lieb Nachtigall, wach auf
Lasst uns froh und munter sein
Traditional (Spiritual): Ain't That A-Rockin'
Mary Had a Baby
Traditional (Germany) : O Tannenbaum
Traditional (England): Sussex Carol
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Felix Bernard: Winter Wonderland
Irving Berlin: White Christmas

Bavarian Radio Chorus
Munich Radio Orchestra
Howard Arman, conductor

6 hours, 58 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Dec 2020 16:00

Music Played

  • Trad.

    Christmas Eve Reel, Christmas in America, Old Christmas Eve

    Music Arranger: Jeannette Sorrell. Ensemble: Apollo’s Fire.
    • Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain.
    • Avie.
    • 001.
  • Arnas Maasalo

    Joulun kellot

    Choir: Tapiola Childrens Choir. Conductor: Erkki Pohjola.
    • Joululauluja - Christmas Carols.
    • Finlandia.
    • 12.
  • Arvo Pärt

    Christmas Lullaby

    Ensemble: Goeyvaerts String Trio. Singer: Zsuzsi Tóth. Singer: Barnabás Hegyi. Singer: Olivier Berten.
    • CHALLENGE CLASSICS: CC72696.
    • CHALLENGE CLASSICS.
    • 2.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto in E Major RV.270 "Il riposo, per il Santissimo Natale"

    Performer: Fredrik From. Orchestra: Concerto Copenhagen. Conductor: Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
    • Per la notte di Natale: Italian Christmas Concertos.
    • Naxos.
    • 301.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto in E Major RV.270 "Il riposo, per il Santissimo Natale"

    Performer: Fredrik From. Orchestra: Concerto Copenhagen. Conductor: Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
    • Per la notte di Natale: Italian Christmas Concertos.
    • Naxos.
    • 302.
  • Antonio Vivaldi

    Violin Concerto in E Major RV.270 "Il riposo, per il Santissimo Natale"

    Performer: Fredrik From. Orchestra: Concerto Copenhagen. Conductor: Lars Ulrik Mortensen.
    • Per la notte di Natale: Italian Christmas Concertos.
    • Naxos.
    • 303.
  • Arnold Schoenberg

    Weihnachtsmusik (Christmas Music)

    Ensemble: Taverner Players. Director: Andrew Parrott.
    • Christmas Carols.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 014.
  • Juan García de Zéspedes

    Convidando está la noche

    Ensemble: Ex Cathedra Choir. Conductor: Jeffrey Skidmore.
    • New World Symphonies - Baroque Music from L:atin America: Ex Cathedra, Jeffrey S.
    • Hyperion.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Nutcracker (Tarantella)

    Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker: Berliner Philharmoniker/Rattle.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 11.

Broadcast

  • Sun 20 Dec 2020 16:00

Seven unusual Christmas traditions from around Europe

Seven unusual Christmas traditions from around Europe

Be inspired by these quirky festive practices, from folklore to TV schedules.