01 December 2012
Newsdesk
Malcolm Pisani’s first Christmas single “Christmas Star” will be officially released on the 1st of December 2012. It is going to be part of the major local streets’ playlist, on local and foreign radio stations and one can also obtain a personal copy from iTunes. "Christmas Star" is a must-addition to your holiday music collection. This song offers the traditional, laid-back feel that every Christmas classic should embody and is reminiscent of carols from great singers of the past. Produced by Stephen Rudden, the arrangements never overwhelm the song. Pisani's smooth and supple vocals find and emphasize the emotional core of this song.
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The story behind “Christmas Star” by the song’s producer, Stephen Rudden:
“It has always been a desire of mine to write a Christmas song.
In 1991 I was at St Paul's Cathedral London helping an old friend whose father was one of the last great organ and harpsichord technicians left. He was there to service the 1881 Henry Willis organ. My friend’s father not only looked after the instruments at St Paul’s but also the Elizabethan Harpsichord at Buckingham Palace.
As he set about inspecting the organ, the choir was singing.
It was November and they suddenly broke into the beautiful 16th centaury carol “The Coventry Carol” .
Immediately I was covered in goose bumps and tears in my eyes, for its perhaps the best example of the Picardy third, a harmonic used in early European classical music, and the acoustics in St Paul's that afternoon did not disappoint!
I immediately realized that it would make a wonderful modern interpretation, and set about composing Christmas Star...
The verses as well as the music and melody are all mine and hope they complement the 1547 chorus well, it rattled around my head for over a decade.
In 2002 I met up with my old friend and writing partner Tessa Niles and started to put words to my music and melodies. I wanted to capture the warm feeling at Christmas, especially the love that is felt for family and friends at this time.
The haunting chorus melody I felt would suit a lyric about loss or longing, hence the line “Let Love Shine Down on Where You Are” demonstrating distance, is apparent.
We recorded the song in 2002, the track was immediately put on hold by the classical singer Hayley Weternria, but she changed direction and did not record the song.
It has sat on the shelf ever since, until now...”
