The Holiday Music Fest

When posting the wonderful adaptation of "Jingle Bells" orchestrated by Peter Breiner on his terrific albums, Christmas Goes Baroque -- which I said is one of my fave holiday albums -- I also mentioned that he later did a follow-up CD, Christmas Goes Baroque II.

What I said I loved so much about these albums is that there is nothing cloying or tongue-in-cheek with the arrangements of Christmas songs done in the Baroque style, but rather than Mr. Breiner made the songs sound so spot-on for the time, as if they were written during the Baroque period.  Even when you know they weren't, there's still that nagging uncertainty, the arrangements are that good -- and that elegant, thoughtful and artistic .

And here's another ideal example of that.  Because it's a song for which there's absolutely no doubt when it was written.  Indeed, it's about as popular a modern-day Christmas song as there is, "White Christmas."  Yet even here, the arrangement not only makes it sound like it was, in fact, a Baroque song, but Breiner does something seriously impressive -- he makes the song sound like it's a specific and famous song from that period, "Air on a G Strong" by J.S. Bach.

If you like these albums as much as I do, here's a link to the sequel.

​And here's "White Christmas" -- not only in the Baroque style, but in the style of "Air on a G String."  Beautifully performed by the Nicholas Esterhzy Sinfonia under the baton of Mr. Breiner.