As anyone who as followed this blog even passingly for any length of time knows, I am not a great fan of newer Christmas music. (An argument can be made that I do not like new things at all, but since I do not exactly go out of my way to avoid technology-- says the blogger with a flip phone and no television-- that is a silly thing to argue). However, every now and again I come across something modern and very beautiful, and I decide to share it. Such is the case with this Christmasy piece by Arvo Pärt, Bogoróditse Djévo. (No, I do not know how to say that. Nor spell it. Thank heaven for copy and paste technology!) It is quite, quite new, being commissioned from the Estonian composer by the King's College Choir for their 1990 Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. It is basically just the Hail Mary (with a few extra lines) in Church Slavonic, (the above link shares the original lyrics, and the English translation) but it is a very, very cheerful, delightfully exultant little piece and it seems more than fitting as a selection for this Sunday after the Octave of Christmas, known in our day as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus-- the Annunciation being, after all, when the Name was first given to the Babe Who Was to Be Born. Since the King's College Choir commissioned the piece, here they are performing it:
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