CHRISTMAS FANTASIA
DECEMBER 17, 2020, 9:30 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS
www.rmpbs.org
www.rmpbs.org/livestream
Recorded at First Christian Church, Colorado Springs
with narrator, Linda Weise
WATCH ONLINE WWW.RMPBS.ORG OR FIND YOUR LOCAL TV CHANNEL HERE
www.rmpbs.org
www.rmpbs.org/livestream
Recorded at First Christian Church, Colorado Springs
with narrator, Linda Weise
WATCH ONLINE WWW.RMPBS.ORG OR FIND YOUR LOCAL TV CHANNEL HERE
If you would like to support similar broadcast performances, consider contributing to the orchestra.
PROGRAM
Gustav Holst
Fantasia on the Dargason, Greensleeves (What Child Is This?) from St. Paul’s Suite in C Major Op. 29, No. 2
Peter Warlock
Bethlehem Down arranged by Philip Lane
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 "Christmas" (Fatto per la notte di Natale)
Elisa Wicks and Jacob Klock, violins; Pam Chaddon, cello
Carol of the Bells
arranged by Stuart Carlson
George Frideric Handel
Messiah HWV 56: Sinfonia (Overture) and Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
Morten Lauridsen
O Magnum Mysterium arranged by Thomas Wilson
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)
Jacob Klock, violin
Leroy Anderson
Sleigh Ride arranged by Samuel Applebaum
Gustav Holst
Fantasia on the Dargason, Greensleeves (What Child Is This?) from St. Paul’s Suite in C Major Op. 29, No. 2
Peter Warlock
Bethlehem Down arranged by Philip Lane
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 "Christmas" (Fatto per la notte di Natale)
Elisa Wicks and Jacob Klock, violins; Pam Chaddon, cello
Carol of the Bells
arranged by Stuart Carlson
George Frideric Handel
Messiah HWV 56: Sinfonia (Overture) and Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
Morten Lauridsen
O Magnum Mysterium arranged by Thomas Wilson
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter" (L'inverno)
Jacob Klock, violin
Leroy Anderson
Sleigh Ride arranged by Samuel Applebaum
PROGRAM NOTES
We begin our musical holiday journey with music of Gustav Holst—an English composer despite the German-sounding name - known primarily for his monumental orchestral suite of The Planets. His output was extremely diverse, from settings of Sanskrit texts to arrangements of English folk song. The Fantasia on the Dargason is in the latter vein - a sprightly arrangement that combines the 16th century folk tune “Greensleeves,” better known as the beloved carol, What Child is This?,” with an delightful Irish jig.
English composer Peter Warlock’s real name was Philip Haseltine. He was a well-known arts writer and critic but wanted England to hear his music—not an easy situation for a critic— so he adopted a musical alias. Bethlehem Down is beautiful music—haunting and reverent—regarded by many as one of the most profound pieces of Christmas music, but inspiration often comes from unlikely sources. In 1927, Haseltine and his friend, poet Bruce Blunt, were in dire financial straits, lacking money for their holiday revelry. The Daily Telegraph was sponsoring a Christmas music contest, so they wrote Bethlehem Down, submitted it and won. It was, indeed, a Merry Christmas.
Arcangelo Corelli may not be a household name, but he is the without a doubt one of the most important composer from the generation before Bach and Handel. His influence was three-fold: He’s one of the fathers of modern violin playing; he helped develop the Baroque concerto grosso, with its contrast of soloists and a larger group; and he was one of the first composers to master the then-new system of harmony, which freed composers to compose large-scale instrumental music for the first time. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto is one of his finest concerto grossos, and probably the second most popular piece of Classical Christmas music, after Handel’s Messiah.
Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is the most-loved Christmas opera. It was commissioned in 1951 by NBC, which wanted to produce the first opera specifically for television. Amahl is the story of a crippled boy whose faith in the newborn Messiah prompts him to give away his only possession—his crutch. In that crucial moment, he is miraculously healed. In sheer joy, he decides to walk along with the Three Kings to give thanks to baby Jesus in person. The Shepherd’s Dance comes from the middle of the opera, when the Three Kings stop to visit Amahl’s poor household. The shepherds gather, bringing what little gifts they can to the kings and sharing their traditional dances.
Carol of the Bells is a late comer among Christmas carols. This Ukrainian folksong wasn’t known internationally until 1916, when composer and schoolteacher Mykola Leontovych arranged it for chorus. Its Ukrainian words have nothing to do with Christmas - in it a swallow tells the master of the household that a new lamb has been born, and the piece is traditionally sung around New Year’s Day. It didn’t become associated with Christmas until 1936, when Peter Wilhousky of NBC Radio, wrote the English lyrics. Now it’s impossible not to think of bells when hearing the distinctive four-note motive that runs like a thread through the piece.
George Frederich Handel was born in Germany in 1685, but most of his mature musical output comes from England, where he took up residence in 1712. He wrote many operas and oratorios on biblical texts, as they were, in the fashion of the day, intended for the theatre rather than the church. Although his famous ‘Messiah” has come to be associated with the Christmas season, it was a work depicting the entire life of Christ, from the prophecy of his birth through his crucifixion and resurrection. It is said that Handel wrote the entire Messiah in 28 days, during which he sequestered himself in his room and barely ate or slept.
Los Angeles-based composer Morten Lauridsen is one of the most popular composers alive today, with several Grammy nominations, the National Medal of the Arts, and the title of American Choral Master from the National Endowment for the Arts. Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium was the piece that won him worldwide recognition and quickly became one of the best-selling compositions of all time. Based on a traditional Latin text, the piece celebrates the joy of the animals who shared in the birth of the Christ:
O great mystery and wondrous sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in their manger. Alleluia!
The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi, is probably the best-known instrumental music of the Baroque Era. It is a set of four concertos for violin, each three movements and depicting the pleasures and pitfalls of our four seasons. Vivaldi included four sonnets in the score, which served as inspiration for the concerti, or may have been written by Vivaldi himself to accompany the work. Today, we hear the Winter concerto, performed by our concertmaster, Jacob Klock, along with Vivaldi’s sonnet:
To shiver, frozen, amid icy snows,
at the harsh wind’s chill breath;
to run, stamping one’s feet at every moment;
with one’s teeth chattering on account of the excessive cold;
to pass the days of calm and contentment by the fireside
while the rain outside drenches a hundred others;
to walk on the ice, and with slow steps
to move about cautiously for fear of falling;
to go fast, slip, fall to the ground;
to go on the ice again and run fast
until the ice cracks and breaks open;
to hear, as they sally forth through the iron-clad gates,
Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds at war.
This is winter, but of a kind to bring joy.
Somewhere in the early years of the 20th century, a market evolved for a lighter, more popular style of Christmas music. We are richer for Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and Kim Gannon’s I’ll be Home for Christmas. Another such classic is Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, which evokes the wide-eyed wonder of a brisk horse-drawn sleighride on a crisp, starlit Christmas eve. Leroy Anderson was a master of what has come to be known as orchestral “pops”; in fact, he, in association with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, could be said to have invented the genre. His sleighride, ironically written on a summer day in 1948, was premiered by the Boston pops the following Christmas season, and quickly became an instant holiday “hit”.
We begin our musical holiday journey with music of Gustav Holst—an English composer despite the German-sounding name - known primarily for his monumental orchestral suite of The Planets. His output was extremely diverse, from settings of Sanskrit texts to arrangements of English folk song. The Fantasia on the Dargason is in the latter vein - a sprightly arrangement that combines the 16th century folk tune “Greensleeves,” better known as the beloved carol, What Child is This?,” with an delightful Irish jig.
English composer Peter Warlock’s real name was Philip Haseltine. He was a well-known arts writer and critic but wanted England to hear his music—not an easy situation for a critic— so he adopted a musical alias. Bethlehem Down is beautiful music—haunting and reverent—regarded by many as one of the most profound pieces of Christmas music, but inspiration often comes from unlikely sources. In 1927, Haseltine and his friend, poet Bruce Blunt, were in dire financial straits, lacking money for their holiday revelry. The Daily Telegraph was sponsoring a Christmas music contest, so they wrote Bethlehem Down, submitted it and won. It was, indeed, a Merry Christmas.
Arcangelo Corelli may not be a household name, but he is the without a doubt one of the most important composer from the generation before Bach and Handel. His influence was three-fold: He’s one of the fathers of modern violin playing; he helped develop the Baroque concerto grosso, with its contrast of soloists and a larger group; and he was one of the first composers to master the then-new system of harmony, which freed composers to compose large-scale instrumental music for the first time. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto is one of his finest concerto grossos, and probably the second most popular piece of Classical Christmas music, after Handel’s Messiah.
Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors is the most-loved Christmas opera. It was commissioned in 1951 by NBC, which wanted to produce the first opera specifically for television. Amahl is the story of a crippled boy whose faith in the newborn Messiah prompts him to give away his only possession—his crutch. In that crucial moment, he is miraculously healed. In sheer joy, he decides to walk along with the Three Kings to give thanks to baby Jesus in person. The Shepherd’s Dance comes from the middle of the opera, when the Three Kings stop to visit Amahl’s poor household. The shepherds gather, bringing what little gifts they can to the kings and sharing their traditional dances.
Carol of the Bells is a late comer among Christmas carols. This Ukrainian folksong wasn’t known internationally until 1916, when composer and schoolteacher Mykola Leontovych arranged it for chorus. Its Ukrainian words have nothing to do with Christmas - in it a swallow tells the master of the household that a new lamb has been born, and the piece is traditionally sung around New Year’s Day. It didn’t become associated with Christmas until 1936, when Peter Wilhousky of NBC Radio, wrote the English lyrics. Now it’s impossible not to think of bells when hearing the distinctive four-note motive that runs like a thread through the piece.
George Frederich Handel was born in Germany in 1685, but most of his mature musical output comes from England, where he took up residence in 1712. He wrote many operas and oratorios on biblical texts, as they were, in the fashion of the day, intended for the theatre rather than the church. Although his famous ‘Messiah” has come to be associated with the Christmas season, it was a work depicting the entire life of Christ, from the prophecy of his birth through his crucifixion and resurrection. It is said that Handel wrote the entire Messiah in 28 days, during which he sequestered himself in his room and barely ate or slept.
Los Angeles-based composer Morten Lauridsen is one of the most popular composers alive today, with several Grammy nominations, the National Medal of the Arts, and the title of American Choral Master from the National Endowment for the Arts. Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium was the piece that won him worldwide recognition and quickly became one of the best-selling compositions of all time. Based on a traditional Latin text, the piece celebrates the joy of the animals who shared in the birth of the Christ:
O great mystery and wondrous sacrament, that animals should see the newborn Lord, lying in their manger. Alleluia!
The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi, is probably the best-known instrumental music of the Baroque Era. It is a set of four concertos for violin, each three movements and depicting the pleasures and pitfalls of our four seasons. Vivaldi included four sonnets in the score, which served as inspiration for the concerti, or may have been written by Vivaldi himself to accompany the work. Today, we hear the Winter concerto, performed by our concertmaster, Jacob Klock, along with Vivaldi’s sonnet:
To shiver, frozen, amid icy snows,
at the harsh wind’s chill breath;
to run, stamping one’s feet at every moment;
with one’s teeth chattering on account of the excessive cold;
to pass the days of calm and contentment by the fireside
while the rain outside drenches a hundred others;
to walk on the ice, and with slow steps
to move about cautiously for fear of falling;
to go fast, slip, fall to the ground;
to go on the ice again and run fast
until the ice cracks and breaks open;
to hear, as they sally forth through the iron-clad gates,
Sirocco, Boreas, and all the winds at war.
This is winter, but of a kind to bring joy.
Somewhere in the early years of the 20th century, a market evolved for a lighter, more popular style of Christmas music. We are richer for Irving Berlin’s White Christmas and Kim Gannon’s I’ll be Home for Christmas. Another such classic is Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, which evokes the wide-eyed wonder of a brisk horse-drawn sleighride on a crisp, starlit Christmas eve. Leroy Anderson was a master of what has come to be known as orchestral “pops”; in fact, he, in association with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra, could be said to have invented the genre. His sleighride, ironically written on a summer day in 1948, was premiered by the Boston pops the following Christmas season, and quickly became an instant holiday “hit”.
