Thanks to the Irish Arts Center I've become aware of the composer Donnacha Dennehy and of his suite Land of Winter, the title of which is a translation of Hibernia, the Roman name for Ireland. It "is a gorgeous orchestral exploration of the subtleties of Ireland's seasons through twelve connected sections representing the months of the year." Evidently Dennehy followed the liturgical calendar because he placed December first in the progression of months.
The audio clip above is of "December" from Land of Winter, performed by Alarm Will Sound, which the New York Times called "as close to being a rock band as a chamber orchestra can be" (I once wrote something similar about Repast Baroque), conducted by Alan Pierson, whom the Times has called "a musical visionary." The entire suite is available on Nonesuch Records.
