Annie Lennox has added a previously unreleased track to her Christmas album ’A Christmas Cornucopia’ to mark the 10th anniversary of the album’s release.
‘Dido’s Lament’ is a 300 year old song.
“For the 10th Anniversary of A Christmas Cornucopia we wanted to offer something a little bit different than the original album,” Annie said in a statement.
‘Dido’s Lament’ went unused a decade ago when the original album was released. “Dido’s Lament was an almost forgotten recording I made a decade ago which was randomly unearthed from (co -producer) Mike Steven’s studio during lockdown earlier this year… It is the most profoundly haunting and melancholic aria from the opera written by English composer Henry Purcell approximately 300 years ago, where heartbroken Dido prepares to commit suicide”.
While the album is a Christmas album, Annie has released ‘Dido’s Lament’ to mark the mood of 2020. “It occurred to me there was a comparison to the destruction human beings have brought upon the Planet,” she said. “When it comes to climate catastrophe, we are on the edge of abyss. I really believe we don’t have much time left to make an effective change. We are looking at a civilization on the downwards side. This is the truth of this matter. It’s staring us in the face and we are not paying any significant attention –continuing on as if it doesn’t exist. I see Dido’s Lament as a lament for our dying planet.”
Says Lennox: “I’m absolutely delighted to be releasing the 10th Anniversary of A Christmas Cornucopia. 2020 has been an unprecedented year around the world… The carols on this album represent continuum – harking back to a time before modern technology, climate emergency, global pandemics, pollution, forest destruction, species extinction and all the challenges our world must urgently deal with in terms of crisis in sustainability. I hope this recording will at least offer some comfort and nostalgia, but also an awareness that political leaders, religious leaders and everyone around the world must face up to the question of how many more Christmases we have left to spend on this blighted earth.”
A Christmas Cornucopia 2020 re-issue – tracklisting
Vinyl:
A-Side
1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
2. The First Noel
3. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant
4. See Amid the Winters Snow
5. Silent Night
6. Universal Child
B-Side
1. Angels From the Realms of Glory
2. The Holly and the Ivy
3. As Joseph Was a Walking
4. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
5. Lullay Lullay
6. In the Bleak Midwinter
7. Dido’s Lament
CD:
1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
2. The First Noel
3. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant
4. See Amid the Winters Snow
5. Silent Night
6. Universal Child
7. Dido’s Lament
8. Angels From the Realms of Glory
9. The Holly and the Ivy
10. As Joseph Was a Walking
11. Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
12. In the Bleak Midwinter
13. Lullay Lullay
Streaming:
1. Universal Child
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
3. Silent Night
4. Angels From The Realms of Glory
5. The First Noel
6. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant
7. Dido’s Lament
8. The Holly and the Ivy
9. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
10. In The Bleak Midwinter
11. See Amid The Winter’s Snow
12. Lullay Lullay
13. As Joseph Was A Walking
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