Showing posts with label Joy to the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joy to the World. Show all posts

Sunday, December 11, 2016

"Joy to the World", the Euroradio Christmas broadcast, on Radio 2 Dec. 18 2016


The misguided boffins of CBC Radio have managed to decimate many of the beloved programs on CBC Radio 2 over the last nine years. One of the programs that has managed to escape their malicious meddling is "Joy to the World", the Euroradio broadcast of Christmas music that is broadcast from European countries in the weeks before Christmas.

Hmmm ... come to think of it, the only reason that it's managed to survive so long is (a) because it originates from Europe, out of the clutches of CBC management and (b) it means the CBC doesn't have to originate any programming of it's own that day.

OK, enough griping. Sunday, December 18 2016 from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM on your local CBC Radio 2 station. Enjoy it while you can. It will probably be cut some day.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

CBC Radio will broadcast Euroradio's "Joy to the World" special program on Sunday, Dec. 20 2015

One of the few remaining reasons to listen to CBC Radio 2 is the annual broadcast on Euroradio's "Joy to the World" program in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Further details to be released by the CBC on December 17.

Remember when you enjoyed listening to CBC Radio 2 every day, all year around, not just one day per year?


Saturday, December 7, 2013

"Joy to the World", the annual broadcast from the European Radio Union, Dec. 22 2013

One of the few remaining quality broadcasts remaining on CBC Radio 2 is "Joy to the World", the annual broadcast from the European Radio Union of Christmas music.

This year the broadcast is on December 22 2013, beginning at 9:00 AM.

I notice in the spirit of modern-day political correctness, the CBC does not refer to this broadcast as being one of "Christmas" music; instead, it is "holiday music" for the "holiday season". Sigh. One wonders how much longer this musical tradition will endure until the boys and girls in short pants who run the CBC decide that such a program is not sufficiently "inclusive".

Sunday, Dec. 22

9 a.m.: Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, Zagreb, Croatia

Your morning begins with the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra and conductor Tonči Bilić in the nation’s capital city. They’ll perform Ottorino Respighi’s Gli Uccelli (The Birds) before being joined by the Croatian Radio and Television Chorus and soloists for a performance of J.S. Bach’s glorious Magnificat.

10 a.m.: St. Martin in the Wall Church, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech baroque specialists Ensemble Inégal give a concert dedicated to the music of Bohemian composer Samuel Capricornus. Known for his vast output and short life, Capricornus is one of the most important composers of the 17th century. Ensemble Inégal, led by Adam Viktora, is giving the world premiere on period instruments of Capricornus’s Missa Nativitatis Domini.

11 a.m.: Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest, Hungary

On Mahler’s copy of the score for Bruckner’s Te Deum, he scratched out "for chorus, solos, orchestra and organ ad libitum" and wrote "for the tongues of angels, heaven-blest, chastened hearts and souls purified in the fire!" Hungarian Radio Chorus and Symphony Orchestra join together to perform this jubilant work under conductor Gregory Vajda. The performance continues with the scherzo from Bruckner’s Symphony No. 1 and concludes with evocative music from Hungarian composer Miklós Kocsár entitled O wunderbare geheimnisvolle Nacht.

Noon: Barbican Hall, London, England

The hectic streets outside London’s Barbican Concert Hall are packed with last-minute shoppers, but we’ll travel inside the hall for Hector Berlioz’s reflective and luminous retelling of the Christmas story. The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are led by François-Xavier Roth and joined by Trinity Laban Chamber Choir and four soloists for Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ oratorio.

1:45 p.m.: Blauwe Zaal, deSingel, Antwerp, Belgium

Enjoy an all-Bach program from Belgium, with festive music from the Ricercar Consort and soloists led by Philippe Pierlot. You’ll hear two less famous Christmas cantatas by Bach. The icing on the cake is the bombastic and exuberant opening from a third cantata, which features dazzling timpani and trumpets.

3 p.m.: Kallio Church, Helsinki, Finland

It’s off to the heart of the Finnish capital for the eight-voiced Lumen Valo. They’ll be performing unaccompanied music from the Middle Ages right through to present day. Included on the program is music by Gabrieli, Palestrina, Praetorius and a new Christmas carol by composer Matthew Whittall, who came to Finland from Canada some 10 years ago.

4 p.m.: Studio 1, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich, Germany 

The Bavarian Radio Chorus and members of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Radio Orchestra bring you two sacred choral works with orchestra: Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten, preceded by Lauda per la natività del Signore by Ottorino Respighi. The performance will conclude with a rousing chorale by J.S. Bach.

5 p.m.: Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal, Que. 

A wildly popular Montreal tradition since 1980, the annual CBC Sing-In celebrates the season with your favourite Christmas tunes performed by the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, the Sing-In Brass, organist Jonathan Oldengarm, conductor Jordan de Souza and more than 1,500 carollers singing along.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Joy to the World, Sunday December 16 2012

One of the few remaining traditions from CBC Radio Two is "Joy to the World", the holiday music programming from the European Broadcasting Union. Luckily, the program is produced by the EBU; otherwise, the CBC would likely have killed it along with many of the other programs that we came to know and love during the glory days of CBC Radio Two.

Forthwith, here is the schedule as noted on the CBC Radio Two blog:


Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012
9 a.m.: Kallio Church, Helsinki
The day gets off to an energetic start with an all-Vivaldi concert from the Baroque Ensemble of the Finnish Radio Orchestra. They'll play Vivaldi's Concerto for violin and strings,Il riposo, per il santissimo natale. And soprano Tuuli Lindeberg joins the orchestra for the motet Salve Regina.
10 a.m.: Garrison Church, Copenhagen
Inaugurated in 1706 as a parish for Copenhagen's militia, the Garrison Church is a popular concert venue. The Ars Nova Vocal Ensemble, directed by Paul Hillier, will perform a program of antiphons and carol, including Adam Lay ybounden, Es ist ein Ros entsprungen and Ding Dong Merrily on High.
11 a.m.: Small Guildhall, Riga
Conductor Maris Kupcs leads the Collegium Musicum Riga Baroque Orchestra, choir and a quartet of soloists in a concert of 18th-century music, the centrepiece being Telemann's Missa sopra 'ein kindelein so lobelich.' Riga's historic Small Guild Hall is mostly used nowadays for conferences and the occasional disco, but serves on this occasion as a concert venue for baroque music.
12 p.m.: Vzlet Culture House, Prague
Off to Prague for Bohemian seasonal music from the Czech Radio Children’s Choir and the Brno Radio Folk Instruments Ensemble under the direction of Frantisek Cerny. The concert includes highlights from Harmonia Caelestis, a cycle of cantatas composed by Paul I, Prince Esterházy of Galántha and published in 1711.
1 p.m.: Northern Lights Hall, Reykjavik
This concert features a jazz trio comprised of pianist Kjartan Valdimarsson, bassist Valdimar K. Sigurjonsson and drummerEinar Valur Scheving. They join vocalist Sigridur Thorlacius and other winners from the annual Icelandic Music Awards for traditional Icelandic and international Christmas songs.
2 p.m.: Christinae Church, Gothenburg
The Swedish Chamber Choir won the 2011 Let the Peoples Sing Euroradio Choral Competition. They're featured today singing music by Poulenc, Part, Alfven, Liljefors, Ohlsson, Sandstrom, Nordqvist, Rosenburg, Ohrwall, Nielsen, Mealor and Lange-Muller. Simon Phipps conducts.
3 p.m.: German National Museum, Nuremburg
A mix of 17th-century baroque music and traditional carols with Ensemble NeoBarock and the Eismannsberger Strings and Women Singers. The German National Museum is the largest museum of cultural history in Germany.
4 p.m.: Tbilisi State Conservatory Grand Hall, Tblisi
A program of traditional Georgian carols, songs and hymns performed by a number of groups, including Shavnabada, Didgori, Shalva Chemo and the Tbilisi Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir.
5 p.m.: Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal
A CBC tradition "with heart and soul and voice," the 33rd annual CBC Christmas Sing-In features carols and other music for the season performed by choir, organ, brass and percussion, and an audience of over 1,000 singing along at the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul in Montreal.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Joy to the World, Sunday Dec. 18 on CBC Radio Two

One of the few programs on CBC Radio Two that survived the Great Purge of 2007 - 2009 is Joy to the World, the annual program of Christmas music broadcast by the European Broadcasting Union and carried by CBC Radio Two.

This year's broadcast is this Sunday, December 18. Here is the schedule for the program, copied from the CBC Radio Two site:

Joy to the World: EBU Day of Seasonal Music, December 18, 2011

9:00 HELSINKI, Finland: The Helsinki Chamber Orchestra and soprano Maria Cristina Kiehrat present a program of vocal and instrumental from the 16th and 17th centuries at the Kallio Church. Our day begins with the Kallio Church bells.

10:00 ENSCHEDE Netherlands: The Discantus Ensemble with director Brigitte Lesne present medieval Christmas music for voice and handbells at the Grote Kerk in Enschede.

11:00 RIGA Latvia: Percussionist Rihards Zalupe, sax player Oskars Petrauskis and keyboardist Raimonds Petrauskis perform a program called "Mixed Christmas" live from the studio at Latvian Radio.

12:00 REYKJAVIK Iceland: The Carmina Chamber Choir with director Arni Heimir Ingolfsson and lute player Karl Nyhlin present an Icelandic Renaissance Christmas from Langholt Church in Reykjavik.

13:00 TALLINN, Estonia: The Rondellus Early Music Ensemble present a live program of medieval music with fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, psaltery, bagpipe, lute, percussion and voice from St Nicholas Church in Tallinn.

14:00 MONTREAL Canada: The annual Sing-In from the Church of St Andrew and St Paul features musicians and audience in music for the season.

15:00 COPENHAGEN Denmark: The Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble and the Middle East Peace Orchestra led by Henrik Goldschmidt presents a program of seasonal music in Danish, Arabic, Hebrew and English at Christian's Church in Christianshaven.

16:00 PRAGUE, Czech Republic: Musica Florea and soloists will present 2 choral works by baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka at the historic Church of St Simon and St Jude, dating from the 1620s.

17:00 WATERFORD, Ireland:The world-acclaimed celtic Danύ Ensemble presents a concert of Irish Christmas music at The Local pub in Dunvargan, County Waterford, Ireland.

Friday, December 17, 2010

"Joy to the World" program schedule for Dec. 19 2010

One of the most popular programs on CBC Radio 2 seems to be the annual “Joy to the World” program of choral music presented by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

This year the “Joy to the World” program will be broadcast Sunday, Dec. 19, beginning at 9:05 AM. I found this courtesy of Li Robbin’s post on the CBC web site. The schedule for this year’s program is as follows:


Sunday, Dec. 19 2010
9:05 (9:35 NT) - Helsinki - Lahti Brass Quintet, organ, soprano
10:00 (10:30 NT) - Oslo - Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
11:00 (11:30 NT) - London - BBC Singers, organ
12:00 (12:30 NT) - Prague - Ensemble 18 in 18th-century seasonal music
13:00 (13:30 NT) - Reykjavik - Icelandic Music Old and New
14:00 (14:30 NT) - News (runs 4 min, 30 sec.)
14:05 (14:35 NT) - Frankfurt - Frankfurt Radio Big Band: "Swinging Christmas"
15:00 (15:30 NT) - Graz - Graz University Chamber Choir
16:00 (16:30 NT) - Madrid - RTVE Chorus: Carols from Spain and the New World
17:00 (17:30 NT) - Montreal - Orchestre Symphonique Montreal; Montreal Children's Chorus; Susan Graham; Kent Nagano, conductor


The remainder of the holiday programming schedule is:


Friday, Dec. 24 2010
6:00 pm - 6:54 pm - Being Jann's Christmas with Jann Arden
7:00 pm - 7:54 pm - Past & Presents with Jurgen Gothe
8:00 pm - 9:55 pm - A Christmas Eve Tonic with Tim Tamashiro
10:00 pm - 10:55 pm - O Soulful Night with Nana Aba Duncan
11:00 pm - 11:55 pm - A Celtic Christmas with Francesca Swann


Saturday, Dec. 25 2010
12:00 am - 12:55 am - A Yule Night with Nora Young
6:00 am - 8:54 am - Christmas Morning with Molly Johnson
9:00 am - 10:54 am - CBC Christmas Sing-In with Katie Malloch
11:00 am - 11:54 am - Christmas from Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal with Peter Togni
12:00 pm - 2:45 pm - Handel's Messiah with Julie Nesrallah
2:45 pm - 3:00 pm - Queen's Message with Bob Mackowycz
3:00 pm - 3:55 pm - Noël Premiere - Canada's First Carol with Bill Richardson
4:00 pm - 5:55 pm - Highlights from EBU "Joy to the World" with Peter Togni
6:00 pm - 6:55 pm - Season of Song: Canadian Tenors and Friends with Andrew Craig
7:00 pm - 8:55 pm - Christmas Classics with Katherine Duncan
9:00 pm - 9:55 pm - This Is My Christmas Music with Laurie Brown
10:00 pm - 10:55 pm - Bowls of Cheer with Stan Carew
11:00 pm - 11:55 pm - A Susie Arioli Christmas with Katie Malloch


I found the holiday schedule listed above in this post on the CBC web site.


One wonders why the CBC couldn’t display this a bit more prominently on their web site, instead of forcing people to search for it. Ah well, there isn’t anything that the CBC does that surprises me anymore.





Sunday, December 21, 2008

Comments on CBC Radio Two's broadcast of the EBU "Joy to the World" program

Although I'm presently enjoying CBC Radio Two's broadcast of the European Broadcasting Union's "Joy to the World" program, I can't help but wonder why it was necessary for CBC Radio Two to dump Mr. Howard Dyck from the program.

Peter Togni is doing a fine job at hosting this year's broadcast, and I always enjoyed Mr. Togni as a program host, going back to the time that he hosted the 6:00 AM - 9:00 AM weekday time slot currently occupied by Mr. Tom Allen.

But it seems that CBC Radio Two has been carrying out a pogrom (yes, 'pogrom') against it's most respected radio hosts. Why? Why was this necessary? There is a lot to be said for maintaining some traditions and continuity, which the CBC seems determined to destroy with a vehemence seldom seen, other than in third world dictatorships.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Schedule for CBC Radio Two broadcast of Euroradio "Joy to the World"

The schedule for CBC's broadcast of Euroradio "Joy to the World" is on the CBC web site here. Apparently there will be more detailed information on the program on the CBC blog site. The full program can also be found here on the EBU site.

The schedule, as copied from the CBC web site, is as follows:

6:00 am AUSTRIA Domkantori & Solamente Naturali

7:00 am PORTUGAL Vozes Alfonsinas Chorus European Renaissance songs

8:00 am BULGARIA Bulgarian National Radio Children's Choir

9:00 am FINLAND Helsinki Chamber Chorus Finnish and International carols

10:00 am USA Chanticleer various Christmas songs

11:00 am DENMARK Danish National Vocal Ensemble

12:00 pm CZECH REPUBLIC Collegium Marianum with Advent and Chrismas songs in the Baroque Tradition

1:00 pm NORWAY Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus

2:00 pm HUNGARY Bartok's Men's Chorus, Pecs Chamber Chorus, and UniCum laude Ensemble

3:00 pm SWEDEN Swedish Radio Chorus and Orchestra

4:00 pm POLAND Radio Chorus and Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra with Polish carols

5:00 pm CANADA Les Violons du Roy - La Chapelle de Québec


Thankfully, it appears that the CBC's contribution will not be a jazz-influenced modern mish-mash of non-traditional music, as it was last year.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Euroradio "Joy to the World", Sunday Dec. 21 2008

CBC Audience Relations sent the following reply to my inquiry concerning CBC Radio Two's plans for broadcasting the Euroradio "Joy to the World" broadcast:

"Joy to the World" traditionally airs the Sunday before Christmas. This year, it will be heard on December 21, starting at 5:55 am. A three hour abridged presentation will be heard Christmas day at 7:00 pm.

Li Robbins also replied to my earlier post.

Thanks to both Li and CBC Audience Relations for their response!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Euroradio "Joy to the World" and CBC Radio Two

Update: see this post for the 2008 "Joy to the World" broadcast on CBC Radio Two.

I've noticed over the past month that readers find this blog by using the search terms "Euroradio", "Joy to the World", "CBC Radio Christmas programming" or a similar combination of search terms. I counted 34 instances of such search terms, out of 160 unique search terms, over the past month. (In fact, readers found this blog using 340 unique search terms during the past month, but I got tired of counting after looking at 160 search terms.) Clearly, there's quite a lot of interest from CBC Radio Two listeners in CBC Radio Two's plans for Christmas day programming.

Yet, when you go to the CBC Radio Two site, there's nothing to be found for Christmas day programming. Under the "Concert Calendar" link for December 25 there is only a statement that the "schedule is pending". A search of the CBC site for "euroradio" results only in references to the 2007 programming (and CBC Radio Two's contribution to that program left much to be desired). This causes one to wonder what CBC Radio Two is planning for Christmas day which, after all, is only two weeks away.

So, in the spirit of public service, I sent an e-mail to ask CBC Radio Two whether the Euroradio "Joy to the World" program would be carried by CBC Radio Two this year. I sent my question on Tuesday via the "Contact Us" link and, as of today, Thursday Dec. 11, have not received a reply.

C'mon, CBC Radio Two, don't leave us in the dark! Let us know what's being planned for Christmas day! Or will CBC Radio Two be the Grinch that stole "Joy to the World" from CBC Radio Two listeners?

Contact CBC Radio Two at the "Contact Us" link if you want to know what CBC is planning for Christmas day.