December 3, 201312 yr Author When I was in the Conner chamber choir we used to bring the house down with this one. The Trinity Choir sang "For Unto Us A Child Is Born" from Messiah with the Assumption choir one year. It was pretty good... then the Assumption choir launched into the Hallelujah Chorus and absolutely blew the roof off the place. That song, man... that song... It's got a longstanding association with Christmas, but I've never been able to think of any part of Handel's Messiah as Christmas music. I love the whole work, and certain sections are among my favorite things to listen to.
December 3, 201312 yr I'm an O Holy Night guy myself. I'm curious to see where Getslow will rank The Parkers version of Jingle Bells.
December 3, 201312 yr When I was in the Conner chamber choir we used to bring the house down with this one. Went and saw this performed on Sunday at St. Brigid's Church here in Louisville by a local period baroque orchestra and chorus. Very cool.
December 3, 201312 yr Author No. 23(a) "Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen" - traditional German carol; arranged by Michael Praetorius in 1609; performed by Chanticleer. See below for a translation. I love this piece. Both Christmas carol and Marian hymn, Praetorius' arrangement has been used to set other carols to music, including a translation of St. Germanus' 7th-century Christmas hymn, "A Great and Mighty Wonder". A rose has sprung up, from a tender root. As the old ones sang to us, Its lineage was from Jesse. And it has brought forth a floweret In the middle of the cold winter Well at half the night. The rosebud that I mean, Of which Isaiah told Is Mary, the pure, Who brought us the floweret. At God’s immortal word, She has borne a child Remaining a pure maid.
December 3, 201312 yr Author No. 23(b) "Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming" - arrangement by Michael Praetorius; translation by Theodore Baker; performed by the Cambridge Singers Theodore Baker gave us a more poetic English translation in 1894; the one in the post above is very literal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYecrfQjEJU
December 3, 201312 yr No. 23(a) "Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen" - traditional German carol; arranged by Michael Praetorius in 1609; performed by Chanticleer. See below for a translation. I love this piece. Both Christmas carol and Marian hymn, Praetorius' arrangement has been used to set other carols to music, including a translation of St. Germanus' 7th-century Christmas hymn, "A Great and Mighty Wonder". A rose has sprung up, from a tender root. As the old ones sang to us, Its lineage was from Jesse. And it has brought forth a floweret In the middle of the cold winter Well at half the night. The rosebud that I mean, Of which Isaiah told Is Mary, the pure, Who brought us the floweret. At God’s immortal word, She has borne a child Remaining a pure maid. Good one, Getslow. I have vivid memories of this being sung in old Bavarian churches. Also one of the few carols my dad would sing along to. I think he had deep seeded memories of his parents and grandparents singing it.
December 5, 201312 yr Author No. 22 "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" - music by Albert Hague; lyrics by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Dreisel; performed by Thurl Ravenscroft Couldn't help myself. If you don't have room in your heart for this tune, there's probably no hope for you. I only doubted its inclusion on the grounds that outside the context of the cartoon, it has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. But it's perfectly in context here and it's great. The main reason it's great is the vocal performance of Thurl Ravenscroft. He voiced countless animated works through his career, performed the "Grim, Grinning Ghosts" tune that plays on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride and was the original voice of Tony the Tiger. He was awesome.
December 5, 201312 yr No. 22 "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" - music by Albert Hague; lyrics by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Dreisel; performed by Thurl Ravenscroft Couldn't help myself. If you don't have room in your heart for this tune, there's probably no hope for you. I only doubted its inclusion on the grounds that outside the context of the cartoon, it has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas. But it's perfectly in context here and it's great. The main reason it's great is the vocal performance of Thurl Ravenscroft. He voiced countless animated works through his career, performed the "Grim, Grinning Ghosts" tune that plays on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride and was the original voice of Tony the Tiger. He was awesome. This I'd my holiday ring tone for my work cell. . Makes for great fun when my phone rings during an Executive Meeting.
December 5, 201312 yr Author No. 21(a) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - music by Ralph Blaine, lyrics by Hugh Martin, performed by Judy Garland Originally written for the 1944 motion picture "Meet Me In St. Louis", the song has become a Christmas standard. Part B of today's post will feature the more familiar lyrics that have become far more famous over the years, but I've always preferred this version. It was written to be a sad song and was far sadder than this in it's original drafts, before the film's producers told Martin to alter the lyrics. What resulted was a song of hopefulness for the future, which I think is a fantastic sentiment for the weeks leading up to Christmas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g4lY8Y3eoo
December 5, 201312 yr Author No. 21(b) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - music by Ralph Blaine; lyrics by Hugh Martin; performed by Frank Sinatra In 1957, Sinatra asked Martin to change some lyrics so he could use the song on his album "A Jolly Christmas", noting that the original isn't particularly jolly. Martin did so, including the famous change from "Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow" to "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough." That lyric has become far more well known and the Sinatra lyric has been performed and recorded by countless artists since. In doing some reading about this song last night, I found a great quote from lyricist Hugh Martin, who didn't seem to fond of what's become of Christmas over the course of his life... "I just hate Santa Claus and the jingle bells and reindeer and the wrapped packages and the holiday push. I hate all of that. I just loved it when it was, well, all my life ago, 90 years ago." That interview was one of the last of his life, done to coincide with the release of his autobiography in 2010. Martin died in 2011 at the age of 96, leaving behind a legacy of countless musical scores, the most well-known of which remains this holiday classic. Info from Wikipedia and NPR.org.
December 5, 201312 yr Author Bonus Not part of the countdown but I'm currently in my office catching up on some back paperwork with this in the background... Not bad listening at a low volume while reading and typing.
December 6, 201312 yr Author No. 20(a) "Gaudete" - medieval carol; arrangement written by Jaakko Suomalainen; performed by The King's Singers First written down in 1582 in a compilation of Swedish and Finnish carols, the song could be from as early as the 13th century, with the polyphony evolving as it became more widespread. It's a song of rejoicing so the melody is light and the pace very quick. A translation of the verses is below... Gaudete! Gaudete! Christus est natus Ex Mariae Virgine, Gaudete! Rejoice, rejoice! Christ is born Of the Virgin Mary, rejoice! The time of grace has come, what we have wished for, Songs of joy Let us give back faithfully. God has become man, To the wonderment of Nature, The world has been renewed By the reigning Christ. The closed gate of Ezekiel Is passed through, Whence the light is born, Salvation is found. Therefore let our gathering Now sing in brightness Let it give praise to the Lord: Greeting to our King.
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