A Nordic Christmas Story

With “A Nordic Christmas Tale,” the Swedish brass quintet BrassUnit and baritone Arvid Eriksson present a Christmas album conceived as a continuous musical narrative. The album invites listeners on a Christmas journey. The journey begins in the darkness and silence of a cold winter night. A lone post horn breaks the silence. The night passes, church bells ring at dawn, and the light returns. Step by step, the musical path continues through the winter landscape to the settlement and finally to the stable, where the joy and mystery of Christmas are revealed. The journey finally ends inside a hut. Here, preparations for the holiday are already well underway, and after cold, darkness, and vastness, warmth and community now define the atmosphere. BrassUnit and baritone Arvid Eriksson have drawn from the vast repertoire of Christmas songs and pieces from the Nordic countries. Among the works to be heard are pieces by Carl Nielsen, Jean Sibelius, and Peter Cornelius, as well as the classic “Jul, jul, strålande jul!” by Gustav Nordquist.