If You're a Fan of Christmas Albums....

I am, and I also love lute music. So a Christmas album with everything performed on lute and viol - what's not to love? Who knew that the "Carol of the Bells" could play counterpoint to "God rest ye merry, gentlemen" - and also to the 15th c. hit "L'homme armé"? 

 

It's a lovely recording! More details:

New York, NY – Viola da gambist Carolyn Surrick and lutenist Ronn McFarlane have released a new holiday album, A Star in the East, featuring reimagined traditional Christmas favorites alongside new works by both McFarlane and Surrick. Surrick is well-known for her fifteen recordings with the group she founded in 1998, Ensemble Galilei. McFarlane, nominated for a Grammy in 2009, is the founder of Ayreheart and a founding member of the Baltimore Consort. In November 2020, the duo released their well-received first album together, Fermi’s Paradox, created and recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic when both performers’ usually busy concert schedules were cancelled. On that album and this new recording, Surrick and McFarlane weave a tapestry of music ranging from 15^th Century Europe to 21^st Century America, seamlessly held together by the timelessness of their instruments and their extraordinary musicianship.

Surrick and McFarlane have released a new video for Carol of the Bells which is available now, and will release videos for A Star in the East (written by McFarlane, premiering December 10) and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (premiering December 17) on McFarlane's YouTube Channel. The duo will also perform music from the album in two album release concerts at The Barn House in Annapolis, MD on December 10 and 11 as well as in Baltimore, MD on December 12. For more information, see: www.astarintheeast.com/concerts 

For A Star in the East, Surrick and McFarlane have assembled a program that honors and celebrates everything that Christmas can be, and the unexpected ways that it has been transformed. The album includes Ronn McFarlane’s A Star in the East, along with his Early Christmas Morning and Grinch on the Run; Carolyn Surrick’s Mizzie Mine; Bach’s Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light; Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night; and classics such as Carol of the Bells; Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas; Good King Wenceslas; O Come, O Come Emmanuel; Greensleeves, and many more.

You can buy this album from various sellers.