Epiphany 2011

The Feast of the Epiphany was amongst my favourite days in the church calender. We always celebrated with a festive Evensong at St Thomas Huron Street, my old parish church in Toronto. It was there that I first heard Die Köinge (The Kings) written by Peter Cornelius in 1856 as part of his Weihnachtslieder op.8 to mark the day. It is a hymn much loved in the Anglican Church though I'm not sure how generally well known it is. I think it is one of the most beautiful anthems for Christmastide and this version, sung in Norwegian, by Norske kammersangere is one of the loveliest in its simplicity.

It was simplicity that attracted me to the crèche that I set up every Christmas. Back in 2007 I posted the story of how I discovered it in a small shop in Warsaw in 2000 and how it has become part of our Christmas traditions. I felt that this beautiful carol, this lovely recording and these remarkable carvings were a fitting match for the Feast of the Epiphany.

The track is taken from the Norske kammersangere CD Tonner til jul (2000) a lovely album of well and little known carols for the season.

06 gennaio - Epifania