Periodically, I discover a musician that I like. I have discovered a pianist called Chilly Gonzales (not his real name apparently), and now his new album, A very Chilly Christmas. In the album he reinterprets some well-known Christmas songs. I think I will discover more of his work over 2021 hopefully. For those on-line, I have given you a link to a YouTube piece.

O bryd i’w gilydd, dwi’n darganfod cerddor rwy’n ei hoffi. Rwyf wedi darganfod pianydd o’r enw Chilly Gonzales (nid ei enw go iawn mae’n debyg), a nawr ei albwm newydd, A very Chilly Christmas. Yn yr albwm mae’n ail-ddehongli rhai caneuon Nadolig adnabyddus. Rwy’n credu y byddaf yn darganfod mwy o’i waith dros 2021 gobeithio. I’r rhai ar-lein, rwyf wedi rhoi dolen i chi i ddarn YouTube.

His reinterpretation comes because he chooses to use the minor key. It changes how we listen and appreciate the music. Sometimes things need to be different for us to understand something differently.

Daw ei ailddehongliad oherwydd ei fod yn dewis defnyddio’r mân allwedd. Mae’n newid sut rydyn ni’n gwrando ac yn gwerthfawrogi’r gerddoriaeth. Weithiau mae angen i bethau fod yn wahanol i ni ddeall rhywbeth yn wahanol.

I guess that the thing with Christmas is that we know the story very well indeed. Our understanding of that story is overlaid with our memories. As I retrieved the family Christmas decorations box, I came across (as I do each year) a photograph of my now 19-year-old boy wearing his innkeeper’s outfit. Somewhere on my phone is a video of my niece dancing with Jennifer during a visit close to Christmas. Who cannot be moved by such images, even people like me who pretend to model themselves on Ebenezer Scrooge? Christmas though sometimes loses the capacity to surprise us. We know the story, but do not very often let it come to the centre of our attention.

Dw i’n dyfalu mai’r peth gyda’r Nadolig yw ein bod ni’n gwybod y stori yn dda iawn yn wir. Mae ein dealltwriaeth o’r stori honno wedi’i gorchuddio â’n hatgofion. Wrth imi adfer blwch addurniadau Nadolig y teulu, deuthum ar draws (fel yr wyf yn ei wneud bob blwyddyn) ffotograff o fy machgen 19 oed bellach yn gwisgo gwisg ei dafarnwr. Rhywle ar fy ffôn mae fideo o fy nith yn dawnsio gyda Jennifer yn ystod ymweliad yn agos at y Nadolig. Pwy na all delweddau o’r fath eu symud, hyd yn oed pobl fel fi sy’n esgus modelu eu hunain ar Ebenezer Scrooge? Mae’r Nadolig er weithiau’n colli’r gallu i’n synnu. Rydyn ni’n gwybod y stori, ond nid ydyn ni’n aml yn gadael iddi ddod i ganol ein sylw.

The Christmas story becomes memories of children wearing tinsel and more and more creative ways of primary schools telling it in their plays rather than the story of God stepping into the world in the form of a baby. ‘God contracted to a span. Incomprehensibly made man’ penned Charles Wesley in his well know hymn.

Daw stori’r Nadolig yn atgofion am blant yn gwisgo tinsel a ffyrdd mwy a mwy creadigol o ysgolion cynradd yn ei hadrodd yn eu dramâu yn hytrach na stori Duw yn camu i’r byd ar ffurf babi. ‘God contracted to a span. Incomprehensibly made man’ ysgrifennod Charles Wesley yn ei emyn adnabyddus.

The birth/arrival of any child into the life of a family causes great disturbance. Disturbance and delight. Mary and Joseph’s world would have been turned upside down. With the briefest of details, the gospel writers, Luke, and Matthew, tell of how the news was received by those working as well as those in the corridors of power. Shepherds rushed to worship, and Herod and his advisors wondered how the birth would affect them.

Mae genedigaeth / dyfodiad unrhyw blentyn i fywyd teulu yn achosi aflonyddwch mawr. Aflonyddwch a hyfrydwch. Byddai byd Mary a Joseph wedi cael ei droi wyneb i waered. Gyda’r byrraf o fanylion, mae ysgrifenwyr yr efengyl, Luc, a Mathew, yn dweud sut y derbyniwyd y newyddion gan y rhai sy’n gweithio yn ogystal â’r rhai yng nghoridorau pŵer. Rhuthrodd bugeiliaid i addoli, ac roedd Herod a’i gynghorwyr yn meddwl tybed sut y byddai’r enedigaeth yn effeithio arnyn nhw.

Christmas is a story that calls for change. That change starts with us as individuals. It also challenges society. The song that Mary sang when she met one of his closest family members spoke of the transformation of the world (Luke 1:46-55). Her words deserve special study. I expect at times we find the words of this teenager from Nazareth uncomfortable.

Mae’r Nadolig yn stori sy’n galw am newid. Mae’r newid hwnnw’n dechrau gyda ni fel unigolion. Mae hefyd yn herio cymdeithas. Soniodd y gân a ganodd Mary pan gyfarfu ag un o aelodau agosaf ei theulu am drawsnewidiad y byd (Luc 1: 46-55). Mae ei geiriau’n haeddu astudiaeth arbennig. Rwy’n disgwyl ar adegau y bydd geiriau’r arddegau hwn o Nasareth yn anghyfforddus.

This Christmas has been stripped bare of many things. It gives us opportunity to see and hear things differently.

Nadolig Llawen | Happy Christmas to you. May you know the peace of God that thoroughly disturbs.

Mae’r Nadolig hwn wedi cael ei dynnu’n noeth o lawer o bethau. Mae’n rhoi cyfle i ni weld a chlywed pethau’n wahanol.

Nadolig Llawen | Merry Christmas i chi. Boed i chi wybod heddwch Duw sy’n tarfu’n drwyadl.