Christmas Carol Collection 2013

A global chorus of holiday voices, this collection gathers traditional Christmas carols from six languages: English, French, German, Greek, Italian, and Ukrainian. Here are the familiar melodies too, the ones that have echoed through centuries of winter nights. 'The First Nowell' tells its ancient story of star and stranger, while 'Good King Wenceslas' strides through the snow on behalf of the poor. Yet the collection reaches further, into carols less heard outside their home cultures, offering listeners a chance to hear how different peoples mark the same holy night. The texts carry the weight of generations, their words set down by Victorian clergymen, Renaissance compilers, and anonymous singers whose names time has forgotten. This is not mere nostalgia. These are living documents of how human beings have spoken to one another about wonder, sacrifice, and light breaking into darkness. Whether you return to them each December or discover them for the first time, the collection invites you into a tradition that transcends borders.