Due to Covid-19, one of Canada’s most beloved, long-running period dramas, Murdoch Mysteries is without a new season this Christmas, which is usually when new episodes premiere.
But the good news is that the streaming service Acorn TV and the show’s producers have the next best thing: an intimate concert special shot on the series set, hosted by the Detective William Murdoch himself (Yannick Bisson), consisting of music popular during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, along with the show’s favorite themes– performed by a world-class ensemble from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
A Music Lover’s Guide To Murdoch Mysteries will premiere in the U.S. and Canada, on Christmas Eve, on Thursday, December 24, 2020 on Acorn TV.
Between each song, Detective Murdoch entertains viewers with fun and whimsical anecdotes about the composers and the works featured in the special. This special provides a new alternative way to experience Murdoch Mysteries, its characters and that era until season 14 premieres in 2021. The ensemble is conducted by the series’ composer, Robert Carli.
The musical selections are:
- Opening Theme from Murdoch Mysteries – ROBERT CARLI
- Pavane pour une infante défunte– MAURICE RAVEL
- Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115-Mvt. IV – JOHANNES BRAHMS
- Suite from Murdoch Mysteries – ROBERT CARLI (containing motifs heard regularly in series, including the opening theme and moments when Murdoch is either deciphering puzzles or solving crimes)
- Excerpt from Mazurka No. 2 – LAURA GERTRUDE LEMON
- Adagio Molto – PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
- String Quartet, Op. 76 No. 2, “Fifths” – Mvt. IV – JOSEPH HAYDN
- On The Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314 – JOHANN STRAUSS II (fun fact: Detective Murdoch and future wife Julia danced to this waltz while they were dating)
- Maple Leaf Rag – SCOTT JOPLIN
Inspired by Maureen Jennings’ acclaimed novels, Murdoch Mysteries has garnered 45 Gemini and Canadian Screen Award nominations from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television during its run, and Yannick Bisson won Canadian Screen Award’s ‘Fan’s Choice Award.’
Set in the late 1890s and early 1900s in Toronto, the methodical and dashing Detective Murdoch and his impassioned wife Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy) enlists radical new forensic techniques like fingerprinting, ultraviolet light, and trace evidence to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders.
Murdoch’s associates, including his gruff boss Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), Constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris), Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) and eccentric Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany), are valuable allies to help solve cases across the many stratums and evolving manners of Victorian society.
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