Delos Diary

Christmas approaches!
Depending on your state of readiness, these two words, plus the exclamation point, may delight or depress you. The weary grind of sending cards, shopping for gifts, wrapping them, decorating the house, etc., etc., can be daunting, especially if you've already gone through the entire cycle thirty or forty times over the years. On the other hand, for those who are relatively young, mobile and prosperous, the holidays can be a time of great delight.
A Christmas manifestation I personally dread is the prospect of hearing the same dozen or so Christmas carols being sung or played over and over on radio, TV, store and mall sound systems, by church choirs, amateur choruses, and local glee clubs from mid November through December 25.
Here at Delos we have a couple of antidotes to alleviate this glut of Christmas standards. A Kremlin Christmas (DE 3271) for one. The wonderful Capella of the Moscow Kremlin Museum, under its director Gennady Dmitriak, dips into the rich reservoir of Russian Orthodox Christmas music developed over the last four centuries and comes up with a recording, rich in Christmas spirit, with music mostly unfamiliar to western listeners.
Closer to home, Christmas by the Bay (DE 3238), brings us the renowned San Francisco Symphony Chorus, conducted by Vance George, in a concert with some familiar holiday favorites but many other rarely heard gems extending from the French and Italian Renaissance to contemporary compositions such as Eric Whitacre's setting of e.e. cummings' poem little tree. Truly refreshing, touching and unhackneyed music.
Enough said. Now get back to your wrapping and decorating. It's closer than you think.