Another Christmas 2018

Tags

Canada Français, choir, Christmas, Montreal, Noël, traditions

We had friends today for Christmas Lunch, it took me about an hour to set the table. I had polished all the silverware a few days ago and all the linens had been ironed.

The menu was classic French Canada fare, tourtières, Ragoût de pattes de cochon avec boulettes, a breast of turkey. For dessert we had mulled wine jellies and Plum Pudding flambé with brandy, a great meal.

Later I watched the Christmas Day message of the Queen, her messages are well crafted and never say more than need to be said on this day. The photos on the desk are related to what the Sovereign is saying, they also convey the message of continuity. This year a photo of her father as a young man in the Royal Navy during the First World War, not yet aware that one day he would become King. Then a photo of a young bride and husband with their first child, the Prince of Wales, who one day will be King. The group photo is of her son HRH Prince Charles on his 70th birthday with the Duchess of Cornwall surrounded by his own children and grand children. Continuity, the Queen is a great-grand mother now. The one absence today HRH Prince Philip who at 96 has retired from the public eye.

Today on Radio-Canada Christmas programming the host tenor Marc Hervieux spoke of his childhood and played this great classic of the Midnight Mass in parishes in French Canada, Ça berger, assemblons-nous. ( Shepherds let’s gather) the singer was one of the very great operatic tenors in Canada in the 1950’s  Richard Verreau (1926-2005). He was a neighbour in Montreal for about 10 years. A wonderful voice with a tragic ending. The Choir is Les Disciples de Massenet, a group with a 90 year history.

 

Such sacred music is muscular and sounds almost like a martial air. It says come let’s go now, nothing is more important, leave your flocks to look after themselves, the Messiah awaits you. There is no greater calling.

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie
Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

Laissons là  tout le troupeau
Qu’il erre à  l’aventure
Que sans nous sur ce coteau
Il cherche sa pâture
Allons voir dans un petit berceau
L’auteur de la nature

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie

Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

Que l’hiver par ses frimas
Ait endurci la plaine
S’il croit arrêter nos pas
Cette espérance est vaine
Quand on cherche un Dieu rempli d’appas
On ne craint point la peine

Ça bergers assemblons-nous
Allons voir le Messie
Cherchons cet enfant si doux
Dans les bras de Marie
Je l’entends, il nous appelle tous
Ô sort digne d’envie

 

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Souvenir from long ago

Tags

Augusta Holmes, Canada., France, long ago, Mathé Altery, Noël, operetta, Quebec

This morning we were listening to Radio-Canada programming from Montréal and the weekly show was playing music from the 1950’s and 1960’s. French singers who are well known and were the big names of their time with many hits. On the weekend Radio-Canada has a programming of Oldies but goodies, tunes anyone over the age of 45 will recognize. This programming of French musical hits is highly popular. This is the sort of music my Mom would listen too and often sing along, she had a nice singing voice.

One of the French singers was Mathé Altery,  a French soprano singer prominent in the 1950s and 1960s for singing operettas and French songs. She was my Mom’s favourite French singer and we had all her records at home. Altery came to Montréal and gave several concerts. My parents met her, she was staying at the hotel my father managed at the time.

Here she sings an old favourite, Noël, trois anges sont venus. This piece was composed in 1884 by French composer Augusta Holmès. It is so very nice to hear this music for its quality in composition and lyrics.

This brings back a lot of memories from my childhood and Christmas then. Altery who is 91 years old now, lives in France. Her singing voice and her French diction was impeccable. She was the French voice of Julie Andrews in the movie the Sound of Music which came out 53 years ago. She sang the well known musical score in French, it is just as charming as the English version.

 

The words to this Christmas song,

Trois anges sont venus ce soir

M’apporter de bien belles choses,

L’un d’eux avait un encensoir,

L’autre avait un chapeau de roses,

Et le troisième avait en main

Une robe toute fleurie

De perles d’or et de jasmin

Comme en a Madame Marie.

Noël ! Noël !

Nous venons du ciel

T’apporter ce que tu désires,

Car le bon Dieu

Au fond du ciel bleu,

Est chagrin lorsque tu soupires.

Veux-tu le bel encensoir d’or

Ou la rose éclose en couronne ?

Veux-tu la robe, ou bien encore

Un collier où l’argent fleuronne ?

Veux-tu des fruits du Paradis

Ou du blé des célestes granges ?

Ou comme les bergers, jadis,

Veux-tu voir  Jésus dans ses langes ?

Noël ! Noël !

Retournez au ciel

Mes beaux anges, à l’instant même ;

Dans le ciel bleu,

Demandez à Dieu,

Le bonheur pour celui que j’aime.

Augusta Holmès

 

Here we are

Tags

Christmas, Music Daveluy, Noël, PEI

Well it’s Christmas 2017 in Prince Edward Island and around the world. We are just waiting for our dinner guests here at home. All is ready, champagne is chilling, nice wines for dinner. The menu is a shrimp and lobster soup, Acadian Meat Pie with vegetables and for dessert Merlot wine jelly, had a taste last night and it is good.

This morning with the brilliant sunshine on the Hillsborough river I was listening to the Symphony no.8 by Dimitri Shostakovich. It is about the survival of the City of St-Petersburg, the old Imperial Capital of Russia during the 2 year siege it endured during the Second World War, music to the human spirit.

Tomorrow Christmas day we are going to friends for a late lunch, the weather forecast is not good very high winds in the 50 to 60km range, some rain and maybe snow. But we are just going 15 miles from home and it only takes 20 minutes to get there, highway driving.

It is very green around here now and with more rain in the forecast, oh well, we moved here for the European like weather.

Our table for tonight’s dinner, setting it up takes time

Before the guests arrive I am having a large scotch, Dalwhinnie 15 yrs old, neat!

Will today made Ginger bread men, women and bears which are now called Non-Binary gender fluid people.

Of course tonight, being a clear night, we will see a lot of this on the roads of the Island, no point in calling the police, I was told it is perfectly legal and I should be thankful and If I continue to complain, the police chief will personally deliver a bag of coal to my home. Ok I get it!

All the best to all of you, dear readers. Thank you for reading my blog and many blessings to you on this Holiday Season. I leave you here listening to French Christmas Music of the 17th and 18th Century, music I learned from my mother as a child. Music from old French Canada and France.

 

 

colourful

Tags

Canada., Charlottetown, Noël, Ottawa, PEI

Here are some photos of the Season.

Beach Grove PEI, an area on the North River in Charlottetown.

Richmond street also known as Victoria Row, all the buildings on this street are either brick or Red PEI Limestone built in 1880 and a very trendy street nowadays in the heart of old Charlottetown

 

Old Charlottetown on the morning of 19 December 2017, snowing lightly. Of course St-Dunstan’s RC Basilica dominates the area.

And some 1000 Km away from PEI, another Capital City, Ottawa our National Capital decorated in all its Christmas splendour, with Parliament dominating the centre of the City.

So the shopping hours with the holiday approaching, I noticed that all stores are closing either at 2pm or 5pm on 24 December, will remain close 25 and 26 December.

 This being an Island I thought this old card entitled Joyeux Noël was a propos. 

Events

Tags

Acadie, Charlottetown, Christmas, Christmas markets, Fanningbank, Haviland Club, Macphail homestead, Noël, PEI, Port La-Joye

Well  the whirlwind of events continues, with Christmas approaching. There is no war on Christmas here, decorations and Christmas theme events are everywhere, numerous Christmas Fairs, so many in fact that you can easily chose which one you want to go to and which one to skip. Concerts, choirs performing, parties of all sorts.

We started with a Christmas dinner on 2 Dec at the Homestead of Sir Andrew MacPhail in Orwell. We reserved for the dinner because the capacity is under 30, the Seasonal food was wonderful, everything they serve is from the farm and garden and the price of the dinner was very reasonable.  The Fair at the MacPhail Homestead was so beautiful. I think what I like about the Homestead is how this once private home has kept its character as if Sir Andrew was just about to walk in on you, there is no crowds ever. The Fair to raise funds for their operations, we bought a beautiful Queen size wool blanket from MacAusland’s Woollen Mills of PEI located in Bloomfield in Prince County about 90 minutes West from Charlottetown.

the tree on the enclosed veranda of the MacPhail home.

Stollen, marzipan potato and jam by Sabina

The dinner table in the old dining room of the Sir Andrew in front of the fireplace with of course the oil portrait of Sir Andrew in his academic robes from McGill University in Montreal.

At the Homestead we met Sabina Schönknecht from Murray Harbour North who has beehives, makes preserves, Stollen at Christmas and also sells Marzipan as a treat and makes her own dog biscuit. In the Summer she also has chickens but they are European not North American, meaning they are black. See Lucky Bee Homestead on Facebook. Sabina is originally from Dresden in Germany a city we know well. This Season we also went to the one at the Eastlink Centre just East of our home and the Farmer’s on Queen Street just up a few steps from us.

Many of the Fairs are organized to raise funds for an historic site like the MacPhail Homestead or for a charity. There is a lot of poverty amongst our small population of 150,000 on the Island and this time of the year, there are loads of food drives organized by social clubs, the National Broadcaster CBC, Farmer’s, businesses like Receiver Coffee Co. and Churches. They always manage to feed and provide Christmas cheer to many poor Islanders.

Then because I work as a volunteer at the Official Residence of our Lieutenant-Governor we were invited to dinner at Fanningbank, the house is named after General Sir Edmund Fanning who in 1789 reserved 100 acres of parkland for the exclusive use of the Crown. The house itself is in the Palladian-Greek revival Style built in 1834.

Our new Lieutenant-Governor H.H. Antoinette Perry is an Acadian from Tignish, up West. She is also a musical teacher and plays both the piano and the organ regularly, she loves to have the guests sing while she plays on the piano. When we meet we always speak in French.

Will had a birthday and we had guests for the event, he got some pretty impressive gifts. He really cannot complain.

We also went to a Service of Lessons and Carols at St-Peter’s Anglican Cathedral on Rochford Square. It was in the old style Anglican Service and the Lieutenant-Governor came always accompanied by her Aide-de-Camp in full uniform. There was a small buffet afterwards and we had the most splendid Smoke Salmon from Lord’s in St-John New Brunswick.

Now we are looking at Xmas Eve dinner and Xmas day luncheon in Vernon Bridge at friends. For New Year’s Eve I was thinking we could go to the Haviland Club which is at the end of Water street, again steps away from our home, so we can drink and celebrate and walk home.

The Haviland Club in Charlottetown, a former private residence built in the Italianate style.

This Wednesday 13 December marks a very sad anniversary in PEI, that of the violent deportation of the Acadians in 1758. Thousands died at the hands of British troops who were sent to occupy the Island then named Saint-Jean. It was an early episode of ethnic cleansing and the Mi’kMaq people did not fair better. Every year there is a ceremony at Port La-Joye (Fort Amherst) to commemorate the deportation of the Acadians who left the Island on boats often un-sea worthy. Two of those ships Duke William and Violet carrying more than 600 people sank on their way to England, the Captains, Officers and crews were saved but all passengers/prisoners perished.

The photo shows pilgrims at Port La-Joye which is the entrance to the harbour of Charlottetown and faces the Strait of Northumberland. The flag in the photo is the Acadian National Flag with the yellow star Stella Maris. Many of those who survived the horrors of British occupation returned after 1765, some hid in remote areas of the Island in what is called the Evangeline region (Prince County).

 

 

It’s that Xmas Season again

Tags

Christmas, commercialism, Noël, PEI, shopping

Like snow in Winter in Canada, commercial crass Xmas is upon us again. I had to go to the grocery store early this morning for a small dinner party we are giving tonight. This being now officially December all the xmas commercial crap was out in full force. The grocery store is one of those superstores where you can buy household goods and groceries. They had lots of shiny decorations and things for that Xmas party you are dying to give for all your friends. Plates, cookie jars, lanterns in translucent green, red and gold, reindeers and Santa’s and god knows what else, because it is so much fun, you are just bursting at the seems with delirious anticipation. Not to forget the sorry looking half dead pointsettia for $20 dollars, wreaths and boughs for $50 dollars. Cookies loaded with chocolate, why is there chocolate in everything now? What ever happened to the simple cookie, you have to make your own I suppose. Any catered food is super expensive from $35. dollars upwards with no guarantee that it is good to taste. Have you notice how melted cheese and cream sauce with a jalapeno on top is now the rigueur in any dish, why I wonder. I also went to the Dollar Store, I know that my faithful readership will gasp at this admission on my part, but I do have a good excuse, I was looking for a cheap shoe horn at $1. Rest assured I never go there, ever, I am not lowering my standards. However while in the shop, there were aisle after aisle of the cheapest Xmas ornaments and paraphernalia to make virgins blush, including the holy Mother of God. None of those items on offer will last more than one year and you can see it all in the garbage bin on 26 December, how very sad.

We have all our traditional decorations we accumulated for the last 39 years and each is special to us because of where we got them. Looking at them brings back memories of years long ago in this or that country. We may still buy from time to time something special we saw in a market to adorn our tree but this as become rarer with the years.

This year Hanukkah starts on 24 December and last until 1 January. We do not have any Jewish friends here on the Island, I do not believe there is a Jewish community either. But I think it is rather neat that the two holiday periods coincide in 2016.

Well let’s just think happy thoughts on an old fashion Christmas Season, no not a Victorian one, more like a Scandinavian one, a more European flavour to it all to counter the crass commercialism and the eternally unsatisfied kids who always want more junk.

Noël by Gustave Doré, painter and illustrator.