Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

A Touch of Warmth at Midwinter

Christina Rossetti’s poem, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” was originally published as “A Christmas Carol” in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. In 1875, it was collected in the book “Goblin Market, The Prince’s Progress and Other Poems.”

The evocative text has been set to music several times, but two settings in particular stand out. Gustav Holst’s is also sometimes identified as the hymn tune “Cranham.” It was included in “The English Hymnal” in 1906. The simplicity and directness of the music was tailored by the composer for congregational use. Harold Darke’s setting, from three years later, is an anthem intended for trained choirs.

In either form, Rossetti’s poem has indeed become more widely known, as the inspiration for some actual, beloved Christmas carols.

Winter arrives in the Northern Hemisphere at 10:03 a.m. EST.

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Gustav Holst

Harold Darke

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IMAGE: “Adoration of the Shepherds” (1622), Gerard van Honthorst

December 21, 2025
English Nativity Plays on “The Lost Chord”

With Christmas only days away, there’s still much to be done. Even so, this week on “The Lost Chord,” we pause to remember the story of the first Christmas, with music by a couple of English composers inspired by the Nativity.

Alongside Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Hubert Parry was one of the key figures of the so-called “English Musical Renaissance.” He influenced a whole generation of much better-known composers, including Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. We’ll hear his “Ode on the Nativity,” given its first performance on the same concert, at the Hereford Three Choirs Festival in 1912, as Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Christmas Carols.”

Vaughan Williams, the great-nephew of Charles Darwin, and an atheist in his youth, later softened into a kind of “cheerful agnosticism.” He dearly loved the King James Bible, and he especially enjoyed Christmas. Of course, he wrote much music on the subject. In fact, his very last composition was “The First Nowell.” He worked diligently at the piece, inspired by medieval pageants, during his final month, but died suddenly before its completion.

However, even at 85 years-old, RVW retained a remarkable concentration. He managed to pound out the whole thing in short score in only a few weeks. Furthermore, he had fully orchestrated the first two-thirds. The finishing touches were applied by his assistant, Roy Douglas – he of “Les Sylphides” fame.

If you like the “Fantasia on Christmas Carols,” I think you’ll really enjoy this. It’s pastoral music for a pastoral scene. Join me for “A Play in a Manger,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!

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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu

December 20, 2025
Carols Are Served on “Sweetness and Light”

I don’t know what it’s like where you are, but the madness is already underway here. If you celebrate Christmas, it’s likely your adrenaline is already up, as we prepare for a last-minute dash to the stores, a little surreptitious gift-wrapping, some early baking, or perhaps already receiving family.

This week on “Sweetness and Light,” we’ll stick to the basics, with an hour of music inspired by familiar Christmas carols and traditional Christmas songs.

In the former category, we’ll hear works by Philip Lane, Benjamin Britten, and Rick Sowash (his “Variations on The Boar’s Head Carol”). Then we’ll enjoy selections from a favorite Christmas album of mine, “Old Christmas Return’d,” from 1992, featuring early music performances by the York Waits. Some of these Christmas melodies have been around for an awfully long time!

In between, we’ll hear an original carol by John Rutter – now SIR John Rutter, who turned 80 in September – unbelievably, composed all the way back in 1972. I remember when it was a fairly new piece!

None of us are getting any younger. Recollect the holidays of your misspent youth with an hour of traditional carols for Christmas, on “Sweetness and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!

Stream it wherever you are at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

December 20, 2025
A Cookie Platter of Christmas Television Specials on “Picture Perfect”

This week on “Picture Perfect,” slip into your jammies for an hour of music from classic Christmas television specials.

“The Snowman” (1982), based on the picture book by Raymond Briggs, is about a boy whose snowman comes to life and whisks him away on a journey to the North Pole. The show became enormously popular in the UK and through occasional showings on U.S. television. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short. Like the book, the film is wordless, using animation and music to tell its story, with the exception of an enchanting interlude, known as “Walking in the Air,” which employs a boy treble. “Walking in the Air” is easily the best-known music by Howard Blake.

The television film “The Homecoming” (1971) stars Patricia Neal and Richard Thomas in a heart-warming story about a rural family Christmas in 1933. Written by Earl Hamner, the film’s success spawned the television series “The Waltons.” Jerry Goldsmith wrote the music. He would return to work on “The Waltons” – though as of “The Homecoming,” he had yet to write the show’s indelible theme.

An adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” (1954) was the subject of a special episode of the anthology series “Shower of Stars.” Fredric March plays Ebenezer Scrooge, and Basil Rathbone is Jacob Marley’s ghost. But it is Ray Middleton, who appears as both Scrooge’s nephew and the Spirit of Christmas Present, who is given arguably the show’s most memorable tune, “A Very Merry Christmas.” The teleplay and lyrics are by Maxwell Anderson, and the music is by Bernard Herrmann!

Finally, Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer, with “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965). We’ll hear the Vince Guaraldi Trio perform selections from this most beloved of Christmas classics.

For once, the snow will have nothing to do with your reception. We’ll think inside the box on “Picture Perfect,” music from classic Christmas television specials, now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!

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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST

Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu

December 19, 2025
Making Time for MacDowell

The holidays are already really heating up here. So much so, I’m not even getting around to posting today until just about suppertime.

The American pianist and composer Edward MacDowell was born on this date in 1860. Hopefully, you’re not as busy as I am, and you can cozy in for his “Fireside Tales.”

Of course, MacDowell’s best-known music would be the old chestnut “To a Wild Rose,” from his “Woodland Sketches.”

Here, Earl Wild performs MacDowell’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The composer’s admiration for Grieg (as well as Saint-Saëns and Liszt) is evident.

Hey, look! I found some footage of Wild playing the scherzo in a 1957 television broadcast.

Happy birthday, Edward MacDowell.

Now that my radio shows are in for the next two weeks, I’d better get back to shipping boxes and writing some Christmas cards…

Ho ho ho!

December 18, 2025

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