Christmas In July 2018-Day 13
Lucky number 13! I've made it this far, there's no stopping me now!
1. Bobsled, performed by Hector Olivera on his album Page Won By Hector-Embassy Theatre, Ft. Wayne (Engle Associates Recording EAR-10313, Stereo). I love this song in the original version by Clebanoff, something I've long featured around here, but I think my friend Lee over at Music You Won't discovered it first. This version doesn't have the same frantic energy of that version, but it's nice.
2. Behold Your Little Child by First United Methodist Church, Cullman, Alabama-Children's Choir, from the album A Celebration In Song (Prestige 80-157, Stereo, 1981. Kiddies singing, but not bad.
3. Go Tell It On The Mountain, a beautiful duo piano version by Charles Magnuson And Kurt Kaiser from Duo Magic! (Word WST-8057-LP, Stereo, 1960). I was so excited when I spotted this title on the back of the LP, and the track did not disappoint. You'll enjoy it!
4. Masters In This Hall by 1978 Chamber Singers-Robert Summer, Conductor, from University Of South Florida Chamber Singers And University Singers (Suncoast Recording Service KM 4471, Stereo, 1979). This is a Christmas song I run into from time to time, yet I'm not at all familiar with it. I need to do some research and further listening/
5. Intro To Dance Of The Mirlitons by Deems Taylor from Britten: The Young Person's Guide To The Orchestra/Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a (Mercury MG 50055, Mono, 1955). I really like these little narrative bits, especially when butted up against something entirely different from what they're describing.
6. The Volga Vouty (Russian Dance) by Duke Ellington And His Orchestra from Nutcracker Suite/Peer Gynt Suites Nos. 1 And 2 (Odyssey (Columbia) 32 16 0252 (Originally issued 1960), Stereo, 1980). Not the original Tchaikovsky version, but man, does it swing! I think I had this labelled in the track tags as originally released way back in 1060, before the Norman conquest of England, but that's not correct. I believe 1960 is a much closer date. You might need to update the tags on any earlier shares from the record. Sorry.
7. Miniature Overture by Leonard Bernstein Conducting The New York Philharmonic from Prokofiev: Peter And The Wolf, Op. 67/Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71A (Columbia Masterworks MS 6193, Stereo, 1961). I think I've got the suite all out of order tonight. Not that I know the exact running order, but I think the overture generally comes first...
8. Waltz Of The Flowers by The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Felix Slatkin from the LP Nutcracker Suite/A Midsummer Night's Dream (Capitol SP8404, Stereo, 1957). Really early for stereo, but not impossible. Probably released to vinyl in that first year only in mono, but they knew stereo was on the way...
9. Dance Of The Flutes by Andre Kostelanetz And His Orchestra-Andre Kostelanetz, Piano Soloist from Nutcracker Suite-Between Birthdays-Verses By Ogden Nash (Columbia Masterworks ML 5664, Mono, 1961). Whoops, mean to put this up there next to the Mirlitons intro. Without that intro, how would we know that Tchaikovsky changed the mirlitons in the original ballet to flutes in the suite?
10. Chinese Dance by Alfred Wallenstein Conducting The Virtuoso Symphony Of London from Romeo And Juliet Fantasy Overture-The Nutcracker Suite (Audio Fidelity (Mexico) FCS 50,006, Stereo, 1959). And The Chinese Dance certainly doesn't come last. Well, it does around here...
And that's it for today. Hope you aren't sick of the Nutcracker variations yet. I suppose it would be less sickening if there were more variations, but I gotta work with what I got.
Zippyshare
i’ve been interested in these recordings of the children’s choir at the 1st united methodist church of cullman, alabama. i can’t stomach most children’s stuff: angelic hollywood professionals, cutesy clock punchers, even those with real but precocious talent leave me cold. if it was up to me, i’d make sure that they all got nuttin' for christmas. but there is an element of sincerity in the presentation of this group that immediately captured my attention. it reminded me of several recordings of sacred harp music that i’ve come across. the music here of course has little to do with sacred harp. it’s the presentation that is similar. as a listener, you are witnessing a goal of group participation, not of accomplishment. no one cares if little johnny can’t sing the melody. there are kids up close to the microphone who don’t even seem to know what’s going on. it works. that’s the way real kid groups sound. not everyone at a typical church sings well. in fact, more than half are usually downright rotten. i should have put two and two together a bit quicker; for alabama is a sacred harp stronghold. with a little web surfing, i found that cullman hosts quite a bit of sacred harp events. musical circles overlap. and i imagine that like-minded people had something to do with this.
ReplyDeleteanyone who isn’t familiar with sacred heart music can quickly google/wiki/youtube it and find out what i’m talking about. while religious in nature, the music focuses not so much on god as it does community. you are not supposed to be good. you are supposed to SING!
oops... that's "sacred harp", not "sacred heart". that's my 'elmer fudd' rearing its ugly head again.
ReplyDeleteAnother great night. Thank you.
ReplyDelete