Canadian classical guitarist Simon Farintosh has a new album of Christmas song arrangements in all 24 major & minor keys titled A Well-Tempered Christmas. Farintosh has completed such a creative and challenging project but also tastefully listenable as holiday album. With a span of influences from jazz, early music, and traditional Christmas fare, this is certainly one of the best holiday albums for classical guitar I’ve heard.
A Well-Tempered Christmas: Listen on Spotify or Apple Music
Here’s a small note from Simon on the album:
“A Well-Tempered Christmas” is a collection of Christmas reharmonizations I made over the course of several years. The title is a nod to Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier,” a famous cycle of preludes & fugues in every key. Each arrangement is a sort of character piece, exploring a certain musical style, mood, or technique. A variety of styles are represented in these arrangements; numbers like “The Christmas Song,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” and “My Favourite Things” have a clear jazz influence, echoing the whimsical chord melody arrangements of Joe Pass in his iconic album “Six String Santa.” While numbers such as “Silent Night” and “Greensleeves” feel cozy and familiar, others such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “O Come O Come Emmanuel” feel more dark and obscure, reflecting their Gregorian chant origins.
Video Performances
This comes via Simon’s YouTube channel (go subscribe).
