Christmas Chestnuts and Classics

Featuring

PROGRAMME

Concerto No. 8, op.6,

“Concerto fatto per la notte di natale”
(The Christmas Concerto)
Arcangelo Corelli

Corelli, an Italian violinist and composer of the Baroque era, was noted for his style of violin playing which influenced other composers of the 18th century including Bach and Handel. His 12 concerti grossi published in 1714 have remained in the classical cannon not only on the concert stage but in film sound tracks: “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” and other adaptations. Sir Michael Tippett wrote a “Fantasía Concertante on a Theme of Corelli”.

“Sleigh Ride” Leroy Anderson

Anderson was an American, popular and prolific composer of light orchestral music. Many of his works were premiered under the baton of Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops. “Sleigh Ride” conceived by the composer during a heat wave, was originally an orchestral work recorded in 1949. A hit record, it has become a Boston Pops signature piece.

“The Christmas Song” Mel Tormé and Robert Wells

Better known as “Chestnuts Roasting on Open Fire”, the song is a Christmas classic, written by Mel Tormé (music) and Robert Wells (lyrics) in 45 minutes during a 1945 July heat wave. It has been recorded and performed by many of the great popular singers of the last 75 years. Most notable are several recordings by Nat King Cole. Other artists have recorded: Bing Crosby in 1947, Perry Como 1953, Frank Sinatra 1957, Ella Fitzgerald 1960, and more recently Christina Agilera 2000 and Michael Bublé 2003. There are versions in other music genres recorded by Daffy Duck, Bob Dylan, Big Bird and Twisted Sister.

“White Christmas” Irving Berlin

“White Christmas” won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943. It is the number one world’s best seller, according to the Guiness Book of Records. It sales exceed 50 million copies (the Bing Crosby version) and 100 million (all versions). It was featured in the film “Holiday Inn” released in 1942 when it had a particular poignancy during World War II. It remains one of the most beloved Christmas songs.

“O Holy Night” Adolphe Adam

This Christmas carol, also known in its original French versión as “Cantique de Nöel” was written in 1843 to celebrate the restoration of the local town’s church organ in Roquemaure, France. Premiered later in the opera world by Singer Emily Laurey, it depicts the night of the Nativity and is traditionally sung on Christmas Eve. It has been recorded by the great singers of the classical world: Birgit Nilsson, Jussi Björling (in Swedish), Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo.

In 1906, in an historical first, a human voice was successfully broadcast over the air. The speaker read the story of the first Christmas from the Gospel of Luke. After speaking, the first music broadcast was “O Holy Night”.

“Coventry Carol” and “Adeste Fideles” Traditional Carols

The medieval Coventry Mystery Plays related New Testament stories. Few plays remain, but one “The Pagent of thre Shearmen and the Tailors” relates the Nativity from the Gospel of Matthew, specifically the shocking history of King Herod’s order on learning of the birth of Jesus Christ to kill all children. This act became known as the “Massacre of the Innocents” and a subject of many works of art as well as this profoundly poignant carol. The melody is haunting, in a minor key more closely resembling a medieval mode.

Traditionally, “Adeste Fideles” (“O Come All Ye Faithful”) is the final anthem sung during the Christmas Eve midnight mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The printed source has been attributed to many: St. Bonaventure (13th century), King John IV of Portugal (17th century) or even an earlier manuscript by anonymous Cistercian monks. The most likely text seems to be from “Cantus Diversi per Dominicis et Festus per annum” printed by John Wade in 1751. The tune has also been attributed to many composers: John Wade, Thomas Arne, Handel and Gluck.

There are many versions: choral, orchestral, solo voice etc. It has been recorded by many artists both classical (Luciano Pavarotti, the Vienna Boys Choir) and modern (Josh Groban with the Morman Tabernacle Choir). Bing Crosby’s release made the US popular charts as number 45.

“The Little Drummer Boy” Katherine K. Davis

This work by American classical composer and teacher Katherine K. Davis, is based on an unidentified traditional Czech song. Originally titled “Carol of the Drum”, it was written in 1941 as a chorale with the melody in the treble line and the other parts mimicking the sound of the drum. The Trapp Family Singers recorded the song in 1951 and since that time there have been more than 220 recorded and live performance versions in 7 languages and in many musical genres. In a 1958 recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale the name was changed to “The Little Drummer Boy” by which it is still popularly known today.

Marlene Dietrich released a version in German, “Der Trommelmann”. Nana Mouskouri recorded French, Italian and Spanish versions and it was sung in English and the Sicilian language by Alfio.

Classical, country, popular and more modern versions have been recorded by such diverse performers as The Vienna Choir Boys, The Three Tenors, Kiri Te Kanewa, The Canadian Brass, Bing Crosby, Johnny Cash, Henry Mancini, Hank Williams Jr., The Jackson 5, Mannheim Steamroller, Ring Starr, Whitney Houston and Josh Groban.

“Silent Night”

“Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht”, the original German title, is a beloved Christmas carol composed in December 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber (music) to a 1816 text by Father Joseph Mohr. The story of the carol’s origins has been the subject of many films, documentaries and scholarly works. Quite simply, the church organ in the small Austrian village of Oberndorf had been damaged in a flood. Gruber was asked to set the text to a melody with guitar accompaniment to be sung at the Christmas Eve mass. It has been translated into approximately 140 languages and in 2011was designated by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

Recorded inside the beautiful
Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church and Centre for Faith, Justice and the Arts

Filmed on location by Robert DiVito on November 20, 2020