This year, 2021, just like 2020, has been, without sugar-coating it, a hard year, a year to be survived as well as possible, a kind of “Groundhog Day” in which we lived through the same tensions and problems as in 2020. Perhaps with a bit more hope, thanks to the vaccines, but without ever actually “getting going”.
“We hope 2020 will be a year full of good news, in which we all live a little bit better and are a little bit happier.
We know that not everything this coming year is going to be great. That’s just not possible. But we hope that 365 days from now, we’ll look back over this period and be able to say that we enjoyed a bit more Peace, and bit more Justice, and a bit more Freedom, as people and as a Nation.”
That quite obviously didn’t come true. So, to make up for it, we wish you the most fantastically awesome 2021, full of good news and joy, May all your wishes for 2020 and 2021, and many more, finally come true, and so much more.
And, since we don’t give up easy, we’ll bring back those little gifts we left you with at the last time:
From Great Britain, Basque carols
First is the performance of two traditional Basque carols by The Choir of King’s College in Cambridge. If you’d like to know why these two carols are part of the British musical tradition, we recommend you read our entry about them from January 2014.
The Infant King (Sing Lullaby): Choir of Kings College, Cambridge
Gabriel’s Message : Choir of Kings College, Cambridge
They’re so popular in Great Britain that in 2014, The Telegraph included “Gabriel’s Message” as the first on its list of a carol a day.
A performance of Olentzaro from 1952
From Tolosa in 1952, a version of “Olentzaro” sung on the morning of January 1st, recorded by someone we basques owe so much to: Alan Lomax. He did so as part of a compilation of the sounds of the Basque People (find out more here).
Horra, horra gure Olentzaro (Tolosa, 1952)
Last Updated on Dec 23, 2021 by About Basque Country
