In this holiday edition of Major Themes - a feature in which classical music experts recommend a must-hear recording based on a theme - we asked staff members at Classical MPR and American Public Media to pick a favorite holiday album. Bing Crosby - Bing at Christmas makes our top picks. One morning in 1940, Irving Berlin - then America's most popular songwriter - ran into his office with a tune in his head. Unable to read or notate music, Berlin dictated the piece to his musical secretary before proclaiming, "Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote." The tune - a sentimental, secular holiday piece called "White Christmas" - was first performed live by Bing Crosby on a radio broadcast shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It became a massive hit with troops abroad and families back home, ushered in the modern Christmas music industry, and earned the Guinness record for bestselling single worldwide. Now, with a newly reorchestrated version featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, we can hear "the best song anybody ever wrote" as it's never been heard before, along with a dozen other holiday hits and a special Crosby duet with David Bowie. - James Napoli, digital producer SEE APM's 'Major Themes' PAGE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px}

Announcing the re-release of Cor Christmas, an instrumental collection of sacred and secular carols featuring the soulful sound of the English horn, performed by Saint Louis Symphony Solo English horn player Cally Banham. Featured on the album are Banham's own ensemble Cortango, Adam Maness Trio, and Trombones of the Saint Louis Symphony, and harpist Allegra Lilly and percussionist William James.. Cor Christmas presents a varied journey through popular Christmas tunes, presented in a fusion of classical and jazz styles and reimagined in new and sonorous arrangements! In conjunction with the 2019 re-release, Cally sat in on today's (December 9 ) 1120KMOX- The Charlie Brennan Show with Amy Marxkors. Listen to the segment p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d}

Jeff Goldblum continues his delving into the nightclub jazz scene with this album of him backed by The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. Goldblum plays it a bit like an emcee, as he brings up cameo singing appearances by the likes of Gregory Porter, Fiona Apple, Anna Calvi and Gina Saputo on this cavalcade of Rat Packed gems. Music-wise, Goldblum and company show their bonafides with a cooking take of "The Kicker" and boogaloo to Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder" before Inara George coos out the close with Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On." The team sizzles on Wes Montgomery's "4 on 6" as Anna Calvi sings along some hip additions, and Porter is soulfully warm as he swaggers on "Make Someone Happy." Even Miley Cyrus sounds like she's a Blue Noter as she comes in on "The Thrill Is Gone" before the band grooves into a delectable "Django" while Sharon Van Etten is Ella-ish on "Let's Face The Music and Dance." More like a nightclub show than an album, but it's a show worth attending. SEE THE Jazz Weekly PAGE

Three world-premiere recordings from Grammy nominated composer and clarinetist, Derek Bermel entitled MIGRATIONS was recently released on Naxos The album which scored a 2019 GRAMMY nomination, includes Bermel's Migration Series for Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra (2006); the song cycle Mar de Setembro (2011), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade; and the three-movement orchestral A Shout, a Whisper, and a Trace (2009), in performances by the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, saxophonist Ted Nash, clarinetist Bermel, Brazilian jazz vocalist Luciana Souza, and the Albany Symphony under its music director, David Alan Miller.  In conjunction with the new release and GRAMMY nomination, DB has made himself available to speak with classical radio TODAY!!, December 9, 2019. Watch for our tweets throughout the day

The end of the year is coming and that means it's time for the Best of Echoes 2019. Join us as we play our Top 25 albums from this past year. It's sure to include music by The Hilliard Ensemble & Jan Garbarek 'We Are The Stars' from Remember Me My Dear. 25 years on from the release of Officium, the groundbreaking alliance of Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble, comes a live album from their unforgettable final tour. Remember me, my dear, named for the Scottish ballad which concludes the concert, was recorded in October 2014 at Chiesa della Collegiata dei Santi Pietro e Stefano in Bellinzona, in the Ticino canton of Switzerland. The album embodies all the special attributes of this unique alliance between the Norwegian saxophonist and the British vocal ensemble. SEE THE 12/9 PLAYLIST

Throughout the week Classic FM's presenters bring you the best new recordings, including world exclusives and premiere broadcasts of latest releases. This week: John Suchet's Album of the Week is Christmas Carols with Libera. John plays a track from his featured Album of the Week at 10.15am every weekday. If you're still trying to choose the perfect soundtrack to accompany the festive period – maybe this could be the one. The all-boy English vocal group Libera returns with another Christmas album, following a succession of highly popular festive CDs. This latest release is made up of 16 festive favourites to get you into the Christmas spirit, including ‘Once in Royal David's City', ‘Carol of the Bells' and The Snowman's ‘Walking in the Air'. Directed by British composer Robert Prizeman, Libera is made up of boys from the London area, all between the ages of seven to 16. The group regularly performs across the world, and has attracted a large following from the US, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan. Join Classic FM for a month of musical festivities. SEE THE PAGE

Pulsations, the new record from Canadian violinist Angele Dubeau, infuses time, rhythm and heart.  The music (coming from modern composers like Olafur Arnalds, Jean-Michel Blais and Craig Armstrong) was selected by Dubeau, and strives to evoke imagery and emotional intensity.  The contemporary sounds of these composers could fall into the post-minimalist movement, but putting the works into a box of genre or group could take away from the experience that the album (and the singular works) aim to instill. Classiclectic host Kurt Hauswirth had a chance to speak with Angele where they discussed the importance of modern composers, as well as the challenges and rewards of working as a classical violinist. LISTEN

Interview with Public Radio 90's Kurt Hauswirth

As a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and boundary-pushing feminist trailblazer, Paula Cole has long incorporated powerful social statements into her emotional hit songs. Cole's latest album, 2019's Revolution, is no exception. Described as a social protest album, Revolution's songs tackle subjects like climate change and politics, which Cole hopes will inspire thought and conversation from listeners. "I felt the need to come out with some of my stories and my truths," Cole told NPR's Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg at the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York. "I was raised by silent generation parents. It's very difficult, but I really feel that we [Gen] X'ers, we Boomers, we do need to talk. We do need to have this conversation. And I'm trying: That's at the heart of the album." Cole is perhaps best known for her 1996 pop hits "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" and "I Don't Want To Wait" - the latter famously served as the theme song to the TV show Dawson's Creek. But she didn't always have a firm understanding on where her sound would take her. While a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Cole moonlighted at airports, hotel lounges, and weddings singing jazz standards. She said she wanted to sound like her idols, like Ella Fitzgerald and Chet Baker. However, Cole said she realized the lyrics of that earlier era often contained sexist and fraught messages, which inspired her to begin writing her own music that was more personal to her, and empowering to others. That decision to go down her own path resulted in a long and successful music career. In 1998, Cole won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist and was nominated in the Producer of the Year category for her 1996 album This Fire. And Cole joined artists like Sarah McClaughlin, Lisa Loeb, Natalie Merchant, and the Indigo Girls as co-headliners at the first iteration of women-only music festival, Lilith Fair in 1997. "I was there for the first two years," Cole recalled. "And I'll tell you: It was the best audience I've ever experienced. We were there in a movement of peace and love. It felt like the original intention of Woodstock probably felt like." Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg chats with Paula Cole at the Bell House in Brooklyn, New York on December 6, 2019  For her Ask Me Another challenge, Cole requested a game about human anatomy. In her game, every answer was two rhyming words: a body part, and a music term.    PHOTO: Mike Katzif/NPR p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} LISTEN TO THE SEGMENT

The Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, created and directed by the Carr-Petrova Duo, is a project designed to give voice and visibility, through music and film, to the lives and struggles of both local and international refugee communities, and to encourage audiences and artists alike to become connected and involved. Since August 2018, it has brought free, interactive classical music concerts and workshops to displaced populations while increasing awareness of and raising support for both U.S.-based and international refugee-aid programs.  in conjunction with the project and recording, Molly and Anna have made themselves available to speak with classical radio today, December 6, 2019.  Watch for our tweets throughout the day.

I don't know about you, but every year when I play my Bing Crosby Christmas recordings I can't help but feel that the background vocals, and particularly the orchestral accompaniment, always sound slightly anemic and unidimensional. But now with the magic of audio technology, Crosby's original vocals have been remastered and remixed against fresh new recordings of backup singers and the wonderful London Symphony Orchestra. As Kathryn Crosby herself notes in the booklet: "Hearing Bing's voice with these completely new, beautifully recorded, orchestral accompaniments makes it seem as though he's back after all these years. It's magic." Like using Photoshop software to brighten up an old faded photograph, this type of digital audio manipulation breathes new life into the music. Now I've never really been a proponent of tampering with audio. I've heard digital remasters of older analogue recordings that were actually detrimental and personally, I believe that analogue sounds more natural. One glaring example is a digital remastering of a famous analogue recording of the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauss on one of the most iconic classical music labels in which the software doing the transfer completely removed the sound of the "wind machine" because it was considered noise. And obviously whoever did the quality assurance tests didn't know the work very well as it was commercially released with this major flaw. But in this case the end result is quite amazing. And of course, this may not be "classical" music but it certainly is a "classic" when it comes to Christmas recordings, to be enjoyed once again! Tracks include It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Sleigh Ride Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! White Christmas (feat. Pentatonix) I'll Be Home For Christmas Jingle Bells (with The Andrew Sisters feat. The Puppini Sisters) Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Do You Hear What I hear The Christmas Song Little Drummer Boy (with David Bowie) Twelve Days of Christmas (feat. The Puppini Sisters) Winter Wonderland The Christmas Song (feat. The Tenors) White Christmas (Bing solo) SEE THE Classical Music Sentinel PAGE

After the releasing the Bach album with EMI in 2005, Decca releases; Sung-Won Yang's J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites recorded at 19th century's catholic church, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Paris. In order to contain the natural sounds of the recording from the catholic church, this album specifically minimized the post production including the mixing process. You can experience the maturity and depth of Sung-Won Yang's cello sound of time compared to the recording 13 years ago. Sung-Won Yang's have said that Bach's music provides beyond happiness, yet intellectual and spiritual pieces which makes J.S. Bach, Six Cello Suites holy grail for the cellists. Sung-Won Yang was recently interviewed by Rob Kennedy at 89.7WCPE: Wake Forest NC. Listen to the interview via the attached file.  

Interview with WCPE's Rob Kennedy

Here are Ted Gioia's picks for the 100 best albums of 2019 (all styles, all genres) + another 100 'HONORABLE MENTION' albums of merit from 2019 worthy of your attention.    Happy listening!   Laurence Hobgood     Tesseterra       Popular Songs Reimagined for Jazz Trio and String Quartet   Antón García Abril (composer), Hilary Hahn (performer)            6 Partitas by Antón García Abril       Contemporary Music for Solo Violin   Stan Getz         Getz at the Gate          Previously Unreleased Live Jazz Recording from 1961   HONORABLE MENTION - Here are another 100 albums of merit from 2019 worthy of your attention András Schiff: Franz Schubert: Sonatas and Impromptus Classical Music   Angélique Kidjo: Celia     Afropop Versions of Celia Cruz Songs   Bryce Dessner (composer)/Katia and Marielle Labèque (performers): El Chan Extroverted Contemporary Classical Music   Philip Bailey (with jazz guest artists): Love Will Find a Way Soul/R&B