It’s Christmas Eve! Let the last-minute insanity begin!
From the sound of it, Matthew Curtis’ “Christmas Rush” must be a pun – “rush” as in “hurry,” but also “rush” as in “euphoria.”
What strikes me about this piece is that even though Curtis was born in 1959, the music clearly pays homage to the golden age of British Light Music, with composers like Eric Coates and Roger Quilter being clear influences.
Don’t be like me – as you navigate the close aisles, frenetic parking lots, and long check-out lines, hang on to your good cheer!
“Picture Perfect” will be preempted this evening as WWFM – The Classical Network continues with its roster of special Christmas-oriented programs. To my knowledge, PP will return next Saturday with more film music at its regular slot of 6 p.m. EST.
“The Lost Chord” will be heard tomorrow night, as always. However, it will be broadcast ONE HOUR LATER THAN USUAL, Christmas Day at 11 p.m. EST.
For a complete schedule of this weekend’s programs, visit http://www.wwfm.org.
In the meantime, here’s a film music tidbit to tide you over, in the form of a piano transcription of the Christmas segment that serves as a prologue to “Ben-Hur” (1959), still one of my favorite movies, with a knockout score by Miklós Rózsa.
December 23rd. Happy Festivus! Let the airing of grievances begin.
Then enjoy this postmodern, pandenominational, mid-winter concoction by Christopher Rouse, called “Karolju.” The title, fabricated by the composer, puts an Old World spin on the word “carol.” The “ju” is merely because, as Rouse states, he happens to like words that end in “u.” The text is totally pidgin, and the musical allusions to Orff, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, and others only add to the fun.
Limber up for the feats of strength, then gather ‘round the Festivus pole. Truly, it’s a Festivus for the rest of us.
So, it ain’t “Oliver!” What it is is a surprisingly potent bowl of warming Christmas punch. Just as Albert Finney’s Scrooge imbibes from the Cup of Human Kindness, so the viewer is uplifted, welcome or welcome not, by the high Spirits of “Scrooge” (1970). Leslie Bricusse’s hit-and-miss musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic ends in an explosion of joy unrivaled in its boisterous onscreen ecstasy. Thank you very much, indeed!
I can’t say that last night’s discussion scaled quite those same delirious heights, but we did our best to wring the Dickens out of it.
Next week, it’s our hope to conclude 2022 with something very special indeed. Unless it falls through, which it probably will, in which case we’ll have to push it back to January and do something else instead. Watch this space for further developments!
At the very least, I won’t make the same mistake as last night and will be sure to have a cup of cheer on hand to toast you, when you join us in the comments section. We’ll be slow-dancing to Guy Lombardo on the next Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, when we livestream on Facebook, YouTube, etc., next Friday evening at 7:30 EST!
If you need to get away from the candles and clove of Windham Hill, there’s always Godfrey Winham.
When Winham takes on a Christmas classic, it’s like a great, big, satisfying ice ball in the face of George Winston. He’s as bracing as a ride in a one-horse open sleigh.
Winham is probably best-known for his role right here in Princeton as an electronic music pioneer. As might be expected, this didn’t lead to a lot of toe-tappers. One day, after listening to some of Windham’s music, his son asked him if he could write something a bit simpler. This was the impetus for a 26-minute set of keyboard meditations on a familiar Christmas tune, titled “Variations on a Theme by James Pierpont” – otherwise known as “The Jingle Bells Variations.”
This is music a grown-up Schroeder would be proud to own. You can listen to it here, starting about 26 minutes into the program
If you are at all interested in Princeton and the history of computer music, and you haven’t checked out this podcast yet, you owe it to yourself to do so:
This is my favorite version of “Jingle Bells” – presented by the Robert DeCormier Singers as it was originally published in 1857.
BONUS! Leopold Mozart’s “A Musical Sleigh Ride,” complete with neighing horses, excitable hounds, and whip cracks. As a radio host, I made it a point to share this fun recording with the Eduard Melkus Ensemble every year on my last shift before Christmas. At home, it drove the dogs crazy.
With extreme winter weather expected to disrupt travel and last-minute Christmas shopping across much of the country, there’s plenty of music about winter recreation to fuel your imagination as you cozy-in around the hearth.
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