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Magic Toots: Two selections from "The Magic Flute," by Mozart. We'll hear "I Am the Jolly Bird-catcher", and "O Loveliness Beyond Compare." It's played by the six wind players of the group called Nachtmusique (NAHCHT-moo-zeek). (GCD 2K0601)

Christmas Around the Country, Part Two: From New York, we'll hear the Tallis Scholars, performing the old German carol "In Dulci Jubilo" at St. Ignatius Loyola Church. Then we head off to hear Apollo's Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Jeanette Sorrel in a performance of the opening chorale, "Sleepers Awake," from Johann Sebastian Bach's beautiful Cantata No. 140. We move on to Atlanta to hear the women of the Spelman College Glee Club sing "Mary, Did You Know" from the school's annual Christmas concert with the Morehouse College Glee Club. After that we travel to historic St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland as the women of Ensemble Galilei (gal-il-LAY) and guest Uilleann pipe and woodern-flute player Kieran O'Hare play the ancient Bressay Lullaby, or "Balloo Lammy," and the soulful Irish carol "Don Oiche" (EE-hah). Then an old Basque carol, "Gabriel's Message," arranged by John Rutter, is sung by the San Francisco Girls Choir. And at our final stop we'll hear "Lo, how a rose, e'er blooming," performed in New York City by the Tallis Scholars.

Renaissance Christmas: The Canticle A Cappella Choir devoted part of its Christmas concert this month at Our Lady of Sorrow Church in Santa Barbara, California to music of the 16th-century Italian composer Palestrina. From that concert, we'll hear the "O Magnum Mysterium" (oh MAHN-yoom mis-TEH-ree-oom. We'll also hear two 19th-century carols -- "Thy Little Ones, Dear Lord Are We" by Johann A. P. Schultz, in an arrangement by Phyllis Zimmerman. Our mini-concert concludes with two 16th-century carols ... "Sing Tiny Infant Child" by Michael Praetorius and "This Day is Born Emanuel" by John Gerrish. (Opus One Mobile Recordings)

A Renaissance Christmas: ...more with the early music wind band Piffaro in NPR's Studio 4-A. The members of the band are: Adam Gilbert, Rotem (ROH-tem) Gilbert, Grant Herreid (HAIR-ed), Joan Kimball, Robert Wiemken (WIM-kin), and Tom Zajac (ZAY-jak). In this segment, we'll hear first a traditional 16th-century Noel, sung by soprano Laura Heimes, and then a piece that features the recorder family, "O Magnum Mysterium" (oh MAHN-yoom mis-TEH-ree-oom--"Oh Great Mystery"). Then it's another set of seasonal tunes: first a song called "A Young Virgin of Noble Heart," then an instrumental piece "Where are you going Madame Lucette," and ending up with a song called "Stir Yourselves, Shepherds of Judea." (NPR)

Christmas with the Riga Dom Boys Choir: The Riga Dom Boys Choir concludes its in-studio concert with a set of holiday favorites: "O Come All Ye Faithful," Sussex Carol, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Whence is that Goodly Fragrance Flowing." (NPR)

String Carols: From "Rejoice! A String Quartet Christmas," we'll hear two carols: "What Child is This," and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel. (JMR 12)

Dance music for lute: From a February concert at the University of Georgia Performing Arts Center in Athens, Georgia, Paul O'Dette performs lute music by John Dowland. We hear four pieces from the concert: "Sir Henry Guilford, his Almaine," "Lachrimae Pavan," "The most sacred Queene Elizabeth, her Galliard," and "Fantasie." (ACA Digital Recording/Horton Systems Co.)

Mozart's "Turkish" Concerto has the cellists and bassists smacking their strings with the woody side of their bows. This performance of his Violin Concerto No. 5 from the O.K. Mozart Festival in Bartlesville, Oklahoma also showcases Pinchas Zukerman (PEEN-kahss ZOO-ker-mahn) in fine form as soloist and conductor of the Solisti (soh-LEE-stee) New York Orchestra. (Paul Blakemore Recordings/KWGS Tulsa)

Mozart Winds: Nachtmusic plays two arias from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute," arranged for winds. The arias we'll hear are "O Isis and Osiris" and "A Sweetheart or a Wife." (Glossa GCD 2K0601)

Copland at 100: We're celebrating Aaron Copland's 100th birthday today. The jazzy side of Copland can be found in his neglected Piano Concerto from 1926. We'll hear a concert performance featuring conductor Marin Alsop, the Colorado Symphony and soloist Christopher O'Riley. It's from a concert last January at Boettcher (BETCH-er) Concert Hall. (Leslie Gaston Recordings)