Harmonic Generation

From all of us in the Harmonic Generation family, we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! (God Jul!) - https://youtu.be/GQHqYI_SmRI For many, the magic of Christmas resonates with some of our earliest memories. The music, the smell of evergreens, the festive cuisine, and the feelings of hope and optimism. Back in 1997, Anders Edenroth captured this sense of nostalgia in his composition 'En Riktig Jul’, as recorded by The Real Group. This song’s cheerful rhythm weaves s...ubtle reminiscence of three traditional carols ('Adeste Fideles'; 'Jul, Jul, Strälande Jul'; and 'Nu Tändas Tusen Juleljus') into the accompaniment, which triggers our recollections of 'a real Christmas' enjoyed in days gone by. Some years ago, Anders generously agreed to share his unpublished score with Paul (bass singer for HG), who created an English adaptation of the lyrics with the help of a Swedish-speaking friend (Hilde Berg-Enger in Norway). This year, with HG facing a Christmas season during which we wouldn’t be able to physically sing together, Anders again kindly gave us permission to make this recording, which draws inspiration from the versions The Real Group has released over the years. We believe this will be the premiere video performance of a group singing 'En Riktig Jul' in English! We hope you enjoy listening to this little gem as much as we enjoy singing it. HG is thankful to The Real Group for the amazing music they create, and we hope that they will be able to resume in-person performances soon. In either language, this song makes us long for when Christmas was all about magic, mystery, and fun. Trying to recapture this feeling can be challenging, especially for those who have encountered major struggles along the way. At a time of year when the need is perhaps most keenly felt, we hope you will consider donating to Ottawa’s Operation Come Home which helps at-risk and homeless youth access services and support to make positive changes in their lives. #OperationComeHome #christmasspirit #merrychristmas === Music and Lyrics: Anders Edenroth (English lyrics adapted from the Swedish by Hilde Berg-Enger and Paul Jay, with permission) Arrangement: Anders Edenroth

Halls decked? Check! Chestnuts roasted? Check! Cup 'o cheer at the ready? You better believe it! Four more sleeps 'til Christmas, but only one more until an early Christmas present arrives from HG to you :) Watch for a new video tomorrow!

If you're looking for some great festive music, be sure to tune in to the live stream hosted by The Silver Lining Sessions' tonight (Dec 19) at 7pm EST - https://fb.me/e/ZEMqw8f3 There will be holiday songs and videos from a whole host of local artists to help raise funds for the Bruyère Foundation!

We’ve got some new Christmas music coming very soon, but in the meantime, we’re firing up the way-back machine and re-sharing this video from 2016, a time when we could still sing together in the same room! Hope you enjoy this little visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past! https://youtu.be/poLQJxMcJD8 A little over four years ago, HG filmed this live version of The Real Group's The World for Christmas as we rehearsed for our concert A Present for the Future. This show... was HG’s debut performance of this emotional and powerful song by Anders Edenroth, which looks through the eyes of a newborn baby wanting nothing more for Christmas than to grow up on a safe, enduring planet, surrounded by people who care. This song's message has only grown in meaning for us over these last few years as we've seen the extended HG family grow. The images in this video are just some of the babies and children to whom we sing with our whole hearts. Christmas will be a bit different this year for most. But even though we won’t necessarily be able to see and spend time with (or sing with) everyone we would like to, we can still be grateful for our world and reflect on how trying to make it a better place for others might just be the best gift of all to give. Over the years, HG has counted itself lucky to be able to help raise awareness and funds for a number of worthy causes, and we’re thankful to our fans for their generosity (including a number of contributions to the Ottawa Food Bank this fall in response to our video for Fix You). We look forward to more opportunities to give back to the community in the future.

Before too long, this year like no other will come to an end, and we hope that beyond the clouds we find blue skies ahead. The Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky" is probably HG's most ambitious project since the start of the pandemic. It's a brand-new arrangement that we learned, workshopped, and polished without ever singing it in the same room. Be sure to listen with headphones! Trying to get to the same sounds together (while apart) was a fun and challenging new ex...perience, especially given the range of simulated strings, choirs, and synthesisers involved (even a "vocoder"!), all achieved without the use of any special electronic effects. It was also great to get the chance to collaborate with a few HG alumni, many whose paths have taken them to other cities. We even enlisted our live performance sound guy (a talented baritone in his own right) to appear on the other side of the microphone! Think you might have heard this song before? It's been featured in many TV shows and films (picture a dancing Baby Groot), as well as at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The E.L.O. was formed around 1970 in Birmingham, England by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, who wanted to add classically-inspired strings, horns and woodwinds to the pop-rock sound. Their double-LP album 'Out of the Blue' emerged in 1979 and one whole side was the four track 'Concerto for a Rainy Day', of which 'Mr Blue Sky' was the final movement, conveying optimism after a cycle of bad weather. We share this hope for an endless horizon and nothing but blue skies in our near future. Words and music by: Jeff Lynne