For his new CD, Ludwig G?ttler has compiled what he considers to be the most beautiful and contemplative Christmas carols. Although a musical Christmas as we know it - with full churches and making music together - will be difficult this year, G?ttler's music brings us together in a different, very intimate way. The great trumpeter gives hope for better times and reminisces about Christmas in his homeland, the Erzgebirge. "Christmas in the Erzgebirge is very special. Due to the mining tradition it is a festival of light. If you imagine how a miner gets up very early - it is still dark - centuries ago, attends the morning service, then goes down the shaft and comes home from work when it is already dark, then, like this worker, you develop a longing for the light. Today it is hard to understand why we use electric light to illuminate everything around us - and too often we overshoot the mark when we think of the global problem of light pollution. I associate the Christmas of my childhood with a shining reality and thoughts like: What do I give to whom? And more than that, what do I get? When I was five, my grandmother gave me an accordion. A treasure, packed in a simple cardboard box. In terms of my nature and my continued practice on the instrument, its contents were the most lasting gift I have ever received."
