The avid visitor to the living room may have noticed the previous Christmas themes and posts. For me this is a time of stillness and magic, precious with nature preparing for winter and wonders of the sacred being felt closer than during any other season. Just step outside and take  a breath. Where I live, this has been an unusually long and mild autumn, so the last roses are still on the bushes, contrasting the foggy dampness and moldering leafs. And Christmas lights everywhere…

The themes that seem to arise this year are joy and anticipation, gifts and giving. In terms of music I cannot think of any other compose expressing this better than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In fact, where I am drawn towards are the last 3 symphonies. that one of my favorite conductors, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, calls “an instrumental oratorio”, convinced that the three famous pieces were intended as a unity.

So let us start with the Symphony 39 that has a “grand introduction” with fanfares and a pretty “Ländler” during the 3rd movement. Just listen to the instruments talking with each other…