Fandango

A fandango from Murcia, in southeastern Spain.

Melchor, Gaspar, y Baltazar

Eydie Gorme & Los Panchos.
Song about the Three Kings.

Joy to the World

It's still Christmas. It's still the Christmas season (December 25th until the Baptism of Our Lord).

John Fahey: Joy to the World.

New Year's Eve

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt:
What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

Canto de Pastorela

A song from one of the "Pastorelas". "Las Pastorelas" or "Los Pastores" as they're sometimes called, are the "Shepherd's Plays" that Mexicans perform during Christmastime. The dialogue and details of the plot vary from place to place, but they all portray the journey of the shepherds to see the Christ Child in Bethlehem. Along the way they receive help and obstacles from angels and devils and face many temptations. The plays are often accompanied with music and song. The song below is from an album by singer Óscar Chávez.

Lyrics:

“A frozen December appears to come,
the rose of April will bear fewer flowers.

How beautiful is the countryside, how beautiful are the flowers;
how beautiful is the song of the nightingales.

Upon the horizon the shadow walks,
we greet the peace from Palestine.

Crystal water, transparent ice;
Blessed is He who comes, the King of Heaven!”

O Emmanuel

"The Great antiphon for 23 December sung by the Dominican student brothers in Oxford."

Las Posadas

December 16 is when Mexicans begin celebrating Las Posadas, which last for the 9 days before Christmas.

Disney has a pretty good description of the tradition, believe it or not, in the animated film The Three Caballeros:



The Spanish version of the film gives a better sense of the music of Las Posadas (0:35 to 1:50):

St. John of the Cross

Today was the memorial of St. John of the Cross, mystic, poet, and Doctor of the Catholic Church. A St. John of the Cross page here from Doctorsofthe catholicchurch.com. Another page: General Introduction to the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross.

The late singer Enrique Morente (who passed away a year ago yesterday) sang some of St. John's poetry set to flamenco music. Here he sings some verses adapted from St. John's poem "Cantar del alma que se huelga de conocer a Dios por fe" (Song of the soul that rejoices in knowing God by faith):

Tarantella del Gargano

Rain

All Souls Day

Today is All Souls Day.

The Feast of All Saints

Today was All Saints Day. Today is a good day to pray the Litany of the Saints:



A setting of the Te Deum composed for this feast by Domenico Scarlatti:



Painting by Blessed Fra Angelico.

Tiny Desk Concert

Sam Phillips performs for NPR in one of their Tiny Desk Concerts.

Zumbi ao vivo

Jorge Ben, peforms a live version of "Zumbi". The song was originally on "A Tábua De Esmerald", one of my favorite albums.

Cambia Todo Cambia

Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa sings "Todo Cambia" (Everything Changes), song by Julio Numhauser

Come Play In The Milky Night

Stereolab - Come Play In The Milky Night

Veni Sancte Spiritus (Taizé)

Last Sunday was Pentecost.




Taizé - Meditative Singing

Taizé - MP3s and broadcast

The Visitation

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

A Short Catechism On Mary

Hula

Calenda Maia

Calenda Maia (The First of May), medieval song written by Raimbaut de Vaqueiras.



English translation available here.