Program for December 9, 2012 Madison Central High School Auditorium
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (1963), Edward Pola and George Wyle
arr. Chris Sharp
Written in 1963 for entertainer Andy Williams’ first Christmas album, this song has continued to grow in popularity. It has been recorded by at least eight artists besides Williams, and it has been employed in multiple television advertisements.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1934), Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots
arr. James Swearingen
This popular Christmas standard was first heard on a radio show in November 1934. While the song was first conceived to be lively and up-tempo, James Swearingen has recast it as a tender ballad.
Children’s March (1918), Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961)
Although the melody of Children’s March has the character of a folksong, it is in fact an original tune. The march is apparently the first work for band to use the piano’s sound as a color. Grainger’s dedication reads, “to my playmate beyond the hills,” believed to refer to Karen Holten, a beautiful Danish woman with whom he corresponded for several years. The imaginative, colorful work is in five-part rondo (ABABA) form.
All Through the Night (17th century), Welsh folk song
arr. Julie Giroux
The song Ar Hyd y Nos is popular with Welsh male choirs. The lyrics celebrate the mystery and beauty of the nighttime. In 1884 Sir Harold Boulton wrote the words we know today that begin with “Sleep my child and peace attend thee.”
Hallelujah Chorus (1741), Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)
arr. Robert Longfield
Handel’s oratorio, Messiah, was his sixth such opus. Like an opera, an oratorio is composed of recitatives, arias, and choruses but without impersonations of characters, scenery, costuming, or other trappings of staged productions. ..... Charles Jennens assembled the text for Messiah from the King James Bible; the “Hallelujah Chorus” is taken from Revelations 19:6, 16 and Revelations 11:15.
A Christmas Festival (1950), Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
When Bostonian Leroy Anderson was a graduate student at Harvard he directed the Harvard Band, for which he crafted several clever arrangements. His work came to the attention of Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops. Over the next several years Fiedler premiered a number of Anderson’s excellent works, including A Christmas Festival, which consists of Deck the Halls, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and O Come, All Ye Faithful.
arr. Chris Sharp
Written in 1963 for entertainer Andy Williams’ first Christmas album, this song has continued to grow in popularity. It has been recorded by at least eight artists besides Williams, and it has been employed in multiple television advertisements.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1934), Haven Gillespie and J. Fred Coots
arr. James Swearingen
This popular Christmas standard was first heard on a radio show in November 1934. While the song was first conceived to be lively and up-tempo, James Swearingen has recast it as a tender ballad.
Children’s March (1918), Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961)
Although the melody of Children’s March has the character of a folksong, it is in fact an original tune. The march is apparently the first work for band to use the piano’s sound as a color. Grainger’s dedication reads, “to my playmate beyond the hills,” believed to refer to Karen Holten, a beautiful Danish woman with whom he corresponded for several years. The imaginative, colorful work is in five-part rondo (ABABA) form.
All Through the Night (17th century), Welsh folk song
arr. Julie Giroux
The song Ar Hyd y Nos is popular with Welsh male choirs. The lyrics celebrate the mystery and beauty of the nighttime. In 1884 Sir Harold Boulton wrote the words we know today that begin with “Sleep my child and peace attend thee.”
Hallelujah Chorus (1741), Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)
arr. Robert Longfield
Handel’s oratorio, Messiah, was his sixth such opus. Like an opera, an oratorio is composed of recitatives, arias, and choruses but without impersonations of characters, scenery, costuming, or other trappings of staged productions. ..... Charles Jennens assembled the text for Messiah from the King James Bible; the “Hallelujah Chorus” is taken from Revelations 19:6, 16 and Revelations 11:15.
A Christmas Festival (1950), Leroy Anderson (1908–1975)
When Bostonian Leroy Anderson was a graduate student at Harvard he directed the Harvard Band, for which he crafted several clever arrangements. His work came to the attention of Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops. Over the next several years Fiedler premiered a number of Anderson’s excellent works, including A Christmas Festival, which consists of Deck the Halls, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and O Come, All Ye Faithful.
