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MP3 Bill Edwards - Christmas Eve 1915
22 MP3 Songs in this album (77:47) !
Related styles: Holiday: Jazz, Holiday: Kids/Family, Featuring Piano
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Details:
There was a time in both England and the United States when the celebration of Christmas, still thought to be a pagan holiday by association with its beginnings, was either discouraged or outright banned by law. As late as the 1860s, church or government boycotts of the holiday existed in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the last holdout, Massachusetts. However by the time 1915 rolled around, a second generation of children who had not been deprived of celebrating Christmas were having Christmases of their own, filled with as much music as they could find.
Therein lies one of the problems encountered when assembling this collection. Other than the familiar carols and hymns we all know, there were few secular songs about Christmas, or even popular songs that allude to the religious aspects of the holiday. It seems that the ban continued to a degree as the church frowned on popular music forms being applied to holy topics. But the publication of The Old Rugged Cross in 1913, a hymn in popular song form, helped to soften some of that position. It would still be a couple of decades before popular songwriters would embrace, or in many cases capitalize on all aspects of Christmas in popular song, but some examples still exist from the 1915 and before.
Given that the bulk of the population of the US was living in the Northeast and the upper Midwest, where the bulk of the songwriters and publishers were as well, it wasn’t long before they forged a link between Christ-mas and wintry weather. Thus there are no less than four different sleigh ride pieces that range from the original Jingle Bells, written when sleighs actually were the primary form of winter transportation, to the brief and nostalgic Jolly Jingles, composed at a time when cars and public transportation were coming into their own. In fact, most of the popular Christmas or seasonal tunes lent themselves to nostalgia, such as I Think of Home and Mother When it’s Christmas Time, and while many in this century pine for Christmas the way it used to be back then, the people back then were pining for the simpler times of their previous century (except, perhaps, in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts).
Another music form popular at that time was the reverie, a sort of mood piece that often used chime effects. It is represented here by two varied entries with both chimes and bells. Waltzes were becoming nostalgic by 1915, but were still performed, particularly at formal events, so there is one particularly engaging waltz here. Just for good measure, an authentic piano rag, my specialty of course, is thrown into the mix.
One must also remember that Christmas is largely a time for and about children, especially the one child whose birth we celebrate. For them I have included two of the oldest songs about St. Nicholas, which actually contain the earliest musical references to his American name, Santa Claus. In addition, there is a grand march to which any four or five-year-old would find difficult to resist marching around the living room.
One of the difficulties in presenting this older music in the 21st century comes from trying to make it both relevant and interesting while keeping it relatively authentic. In our arrangements, my family and I have strived to make that happen in context with the chosen year while still keeping it fresh for the few familiar tunes.
The one exception would be the biggest exception on this album, my revision of the Nutcracker Suite, also a secular Christmas favorite, as it might have been rendered by a ragtime-aware Tchaikovsky. It turned out to be quite a challenge to adapt, but is not all that much of a stretch as one might first think. This is for fun, but is also a serious effort meant to present this engaging perennially performed work in an alternative and fresh fashion.
Finally, as a life-long practicing Christian who has been immersed in this music, usually for at least two months a year by choice, I felt it both necessary and appropriate to include one of the most moving popular anthems of all time, lending my modest vocal talents to it in a studied effort to honor both the piece and the holy birth. You will find Oh Holy Night presented in the original French as well as the traditional English, my family’s personal offering to Christmas lovers everywhere.
Peace, good will, and happy memories.
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