Music by the Month

Just who is Parson Brown?

Let’s settle this question first, before we dive into the backstory of “Winter Wonderland.” A parson is another title for priest or minister. Many small-town churches could not, and some still cannot, afford a full-time pastor so there would be traveling ministers who would come to town to hold services. It seems that the young couple in this song is giving the identity of Parson Brown to the snowman they saw in the park and hoping that the real parson will marry them when he’s in town. Interestingly, there are two versions of the bridge and second verse of this song – the one featuring a young couple in love and dreaming of their future, and another more family-centric version where the snowman is not Parson Brown but a circus clown. The Parson Brown lyric came first, then the circus clown one was circulated, and then they were combined, which is how many artists and arrangers cover the song today.

This song has a background that we can relate to more in 2020/2021 than we may have before. In the early 1930s a young Pennsylvania man, Richard B. Smith, had contracted tuberculosis, causing him to go into quarantine in a sanitarium set aside for patients of this deadly disease. He remembered the beauty of his small hometown’s park under a blanket of new snow and wrote the lyrics to “Winter Wonderland” as he was being treated. He recovered enough to be released and traveled to New York City in 1934, where he met with a composer named Felix Bernard. The resulting song was released the same year and has been covered by over 200 artists in the years since. Sadly, Richard Smith died in September of 1935 on this thirty-fourth birthday due to tuberculosis. His song is loved the world over and is one of the most recorded holiday songs of all time.

I chose my favorite rendition of this classic holiday song to share here, although there are many out there and it is hard to choose just one! Here’s the incomparable Dolly Parton with her arrangement of “Winter Wonderland” and “Sleigh Ride.”

Dolly Parton - Sleigh Ride Winter Wonderland Merry Christmas

One of our most loved Christmas songs was written in 1945 during a mid-summer California heatwave! Can you guess which one? According to one of the composers, his writing partner had left a few lines on a notepad on the piano – not as an idea for a song but as a way to trick his mind into thinking about cold weather, and maybe not being so bothered by the heat. Singer Mel Tormé read these words written there by his friend Bob Wells:

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”
“Jack Frost nipping at your nose”
“Yuletide carols being sung by a choir”
“And folks dressed up like Eskimos”

Tormé immediately saw the promise of a song in these lines and only 45 minutes later the song was complete. The writing partners knew they had something special, so they headed into Hollywood to share their new song with industry friends, including singer Nat King Cole, who recorded the song 4 times between 1946 and 1961, each time with a slightly different arrangement and going from a jazz trio in the earliest version to a full orchestra in the later one. His 1961 recording is the one we hear on the radio at the holidays, but this beloved song has been recorded by many artists in many genres. In 1974 it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

So try to stay cool (or warm!) while you enjoy Nat King Cole’s 1961 version of “The Christmas Song.”

Nat King Cole - "The Christmas Song" (1961) "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)" is a classic Christmas song written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944 and was first recorded by The King Cole ...

Once in Royal David’s City
If you have ever attended a traditional Lessons and Carols service, you may remember this as the opening, processional hymn. The tradition of using this hymn to open this particular service goes all the way back to 1919, the first year of the annual (continuing to this day!) Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols service at Cambridge, England’s King’s College Chapel. The first verse is sung by a boy chorister who is chosen for the honor just before the service begins. Many churches around the world continue to do a Lessons and Carols service patterned after King’s College Chapel.

Cecil Francis Alexander was the wife of an Anglican Archbishop in Ireland. She wrote poems for children to help them learn the tenets of the faith as detailed in the Apostles’ Creed. Several of these poems, including this one, written in 1848, were set to music and sung as hymns. The poem was later set to an original tune, “Irby,” written by London organist Henry John Gauntlett.

The video today is from King’s College Cambridge’s Christmas Eve service in 2015. Glorious!

King's College Cambridge 2015 # 1 Once in Royal David's City descant Willcocks For exclusive content and commentary please join us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/spiritdei https://www.facebook.com/SpiritdeiMusic/0...

Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming

Sometimes an ancient song is just what we need today. In the hustle and bustle of Christmasing in the 21st Century, “Lo How a Rose E:re Blooming” is at once calming and hope-giving, reminding us that there is more to this time of year than gifts and cookies. It brings us a simple melody, a prophecy-laden lyric (either in German or English!), and a harmonization written so perfectly in 1609 that it needs no changing or updating. We know neither the composer nor lyricist, just that the first appearance of the hymn was in a German hymnal in 1599. Ten years later the harmonization was written by German composer Michael Praetorius and has gone mostly unchanged since that time. This song is meant to be sung in four-part harmony, so the subtle chord changes can be appreciated. The German text was first translated into English in 1894 and draws heavily from the Biblical Book of Isaiah. The Rose is a reference to the Virgin Mary. In additional and later versions in both German and English, the lyrics focus more on Jesus than Mary.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir does an impeccable job with this beautiful carol! Enjoy!

Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming - Mormon Tabernacle Choir The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square perform the German carol, "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" with the harmonization by Michael Praetor...

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

This beautiful carol is usually featured during Advent, the season of the liturgical church year marked by the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. Advent is a time of reflection and focusing on the hope of the coming Christ. Dating back as far as 1710, this carol can be found with original Latin lyrics, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel”. John Mason Neale was an Anglican priest in England who believed that much of the church’s rich history had been lost because most Latin hymns had not been transcribed and brought into the life of the Anglican church after its split from Roman Catholicism. He set about the job of transcribing many texts and more than a few of them are still known to us today, including this one. The original Latin was comprised of five stanzas, but more have been added over time. The hymntune most often paired with these lyrics (Latin or English) is known as “Veni, Emmanuel,” due to being so closely tied to the text. This tune has been traced back to a 15th century French manuscript but may be even older. The composer is unknown.

I have chosen two settings of this hymn. The first video includes the lyric and a lovely choral rendition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xtpJ4Q_Q-4

The second video is a favorite of mine, from Stephen Curtis Chapman’s 1995 album, “The Music of Christmas.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4M_QiiFiSo

Check back tomorrow for a look at “Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming.” Like and share, as we will be looking at a song every day through New Year’s Eve!

Steven Curtis Chapman - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel Steven Curtis Chapman - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel...off The Music Of Christmas...A Christian Way ....... go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Christian-Way/1...

New content up today…learn about composer/pianist Franz Liszt!

A fresh, innovative way for music to be part of your child's curriculum? Check!

9 May 18
As a pianist, I have had the honor of accompanying many excellent instrumentalists and vocalists and performing with them some of the most beloved music in the world. Not all pianists enjoy collaborative music but it is my favorite way to enjoy music and what I feel has been my best work. I have chosen a piece I learned and performed as a college freshman and have loved since then. It is a perfect example of the way Brahms treats both the piano and violin as equals, and gives them each beautiful, soaring melodies and complicated, intertwining rhythms that combine to create an amazing work of art. I hope you enjoy Brahms’ Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op 78, 1878-1879.

(ReUp) Kyung Wha Chung plays Brahms violin sonata No.1 Kyung-Wha Chung plays Brahms violin sonata No.1 with Itamar Golan at the piano. This recital, which took place in March 1997, was to celebrate her own 30th a...

7 May 18
Happy Birthday, Mr. Brahms!
In the mid-nineteenth century, Vienna, Austria was the center of the world of music. Brahms made his way there in the early 1860s and was enjoying steady employment as a choral and orchestral conductor. He also continued composing during this busy time, and today we will visit an important work in his life and to the larger music community. “A German Requiem” was written in 1868 following the death of his mother. Requiems, or funeral masses, were traditionally written in Latin, so by writing his in his native German, he was offering a personal gift to his countrymen. The link below takes you to a recording of Herbert von Karajan conducting the Wiener Philharmonic (Vienna) and featuring Soprano Kathleen Battle and Baritone Jose van Dam in Brahms’ German Requiem, Opus 45, Movement 1.

Brahms ~ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 (I/VII) ~ Herbert von Karajan JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 - 1897) Ein deutsches Requiem op. 45 I. Selig sind, die da Leid tragen

5 May 18
In honor of Cinco de Mayo we are straying away from Germany and Mr. Brahms and visiting one of Mexico’s most accomplished composers, Silvestre Revueltas. I had a hard time choosing just one of his pieces, because I have come to love several of them, but decided on this video of his most well-known work, Sensemaya. Here is it conducted by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel. You may want to turn up the volume for this one! Enjoy!

Dudamel - Sensemaya - Silvestre Revueltas フロア用