Now that the 1st December is upon us, I can start to crack out some Christmas classics. I’ll record my Xmas-related listening here over the next month. #NowSpinning my obligatory first piece: RVW’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Take it away, Ralph….
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Such fine performances of tremendous music. I’ve sung the Serenade several times and first sang the Carol Fantasia as a treble and have loved it ever since.
Oh my God yes. Not only is the Fantasia a great work... that CD is glorious. It's what made "Serenade to Music" one of my favorite works... subsequently, I've been thrilled to perform it three times!
Next up is Michael Jurowski’s brilliant recording of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve Suite. Conductor and orchestra bring fabulous contrasts here, ranging from the magic of the opening and ending, through the grandeur of the Polonaise. It’s a marvellous performance.
I've been playing the Christmas Eve Suite a lot this week along with Rimsky's Symphony No. 1 and 2 (Antar) - all sounding magical for this time of year. 👍🙂
Vaughan Williams wrote a number of pieces for Christmas. The First Nowell was one of the last things RVW was working on and Roy Douglas completed it in 1958. A very pretty work for SATB chorus and orchestra, most of the movements are familiar carols in ‘very RVW’ arrangements!
#NowSpinning Stenhammar’s beautiful ‘Midvinter’. There’s actually a gorgeous fireside glow to this performance, which plays to the festivities of Midwinter rather than any bleakness or cold. A corker of a piece. #classicalmusic #NordicDiacoveries
#NowSpinning Well, it’s sort of a Christmas piece, because one of the tunes is ubiquitous at this time of year. Prokofiev’s Suite from Lieutenant Kijé . Take it away Andrew Litton.
#NowSpinning Another great piece of RVW Christmas music. The Christmas Cantata, Hodie. This isn’t a string of carols, like the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. No, it’s far more serious than that. RVW dug deep and set out an imposing work with thrilling moments of towering power.
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SVR to RVW after the premiere of Serenade to Music.