Tag Archives: Christmas

Your Christmas present quandary ends here: the new CD by Onyx Brass “Canite Tuba: Music for Advent and Christmas” from Resonus Classics has been released with settings of well-loved English carols by Holst, tranquil motets from Monteverdi, Palestrina, Parsons and Schütz, and arrangements from some of the best Christmas works from across Europe, including Berlioz’s 1854 Oratorio “L’enfance du Christ” (The Childhood of Christ), Corelli’s ever-popular Concerto Grosso in G minor (known as the “Christmas Concerto”) and J.S. Bach’s Baroque masterpiece, the “Christmas Oratorio”.

Onyx Brass are also heading off around the country for their series of Christmas concerts, beginning tomorrow (Saturday 3rd December) at St Martin’s Church, Salisbury with a programme including Handel’s “Coronation Anthems” and new composition by Tarik O Regan. In the next few weeks you can also see them at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge (8th December) and St Luke’s Church, Chelsea (15th December) in London, or the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford (11th December). On 21st December they will be injecting a healthy dose of Christmas cheer to Fleet Street shoppers with Christmas Carols at midday and again at 5pm. And if you are unlucky enough not to make any of the concerts, you can catch Onyx Brass on Radio 3′s “In Tune” on Monday 12th December at around 4.30pm.

In the meantime, I’m trying to decide on my favourite track from the new CD – my new discovery of Tchaikovsky’s “Legenda” from his 16 Songs for Children, Op.54 – or the breathtakingly beautiful “Deus in adiutorium meum intende” from Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine? The new album and all the individual tracks are available to download from Amazon and iTunes.

Happy Advent!