Photo courtesy of Byington Vineyards

The Improvisator closes the winter holidays with a special Twelfth Night/Epiphany theme at beautiful Byington Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the South Bay. This be the merry, sacred way to end our ancient holiday!

Sounds of ancient harps, psalteries, dulcimers, flutes, concertinas, bells and percussion, plus a few surprises just for the day, will interweave jolly and holy themes of Old World and international carols. The master cave musician plans to evoke spirits of the Wise Men as well as our merry pagan ancestors, with selections as diverse as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" and the "Boar's Head Carol".

The cozy, intimate Byington cave, lying forty feet below the estate's pinot noir vineyards in a setting high among mountains and redwoods, provides the perfect scenario for closing out the holidays according to the fashion of our slower-paced human ancestors.

Byington Winery was established in 1987 by entrepreneur Bill Byington and remains a family winery devoted to the meticulous hand-production of varietal wines. The chateau-style building sits among 95 acres at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet, and the estate with its sweeping views past redwood forests to Monterey Bay is a popular spot for weddings.

While the spirits of bear ancestors slumber away along the windings of Bear Creek Road, the audience is invited to recapture a sense of the old leisurely approach to the holidays. As at all Cave Music shows, applause is dispensed with, and a relaxing mood pervades the winery's subterranean den as the artist mixes music with lore of ancient observances.

Some notes regarding Twelfth Night:

Cave Music's "Cave of the Spirits" concerts are devoted to themes of myth, nature and the heritage of human culture.

This particular performance honors the venerable time of Epiphany and Twelfth Night. This is the ancient end of the holidays and a fascinating day for both reverence and revelry, harkening back to the legendary journey of gift-bearing Magi guided by an eastern star, and also to the timeless solstice rites of Yule, Calends, Saturnalia and other wintry nature celebrations, when the life-giving warmth of the sun fades and is then rekindled.

In olden days, solstice celebrations were prolonged affairs at which conventions of behavior were suspended, and equality and jollity reigned. Even after the establishment of Christianity, the old ways persisted in such rites as the Feast of Fools where the Lord of Misrule would govern the gathering. The Twelve Days of Christmas, ending with Epiphany, the homage of the Three Kings to the babe in the stable (historically, a cave), absorbed much older twelve-day celebrations of Rome and its neighbors, and grew to encompass the rites of the Celts and the Norse of northern Europe as well.

It is from these older faiths that many staples of Christmas custom such as indoor evergreens, feasting, exchanging of gifts, and symbolic themes of renewal and light have been inherited.

Photos courtesy of Byington Vineyards