Day 10: Kim Gannon, Walter Kent and Buck Ram, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” Shortly after our wedding, McDoc and I loaded my car with a few fragile wedding gifts, enough clothing to last until the moving van caught up … Continue reading
Day 9: “Let all mortal flesh keep silence” Confession: I sorta have a thing for eerie, somber music. I’m not an eerie or somber person, but there’s just something compelling about music that delves into the shadows. I think it’s … Continue reading
Day 8: Franz Biebl, “Ave Maria” I grew up in the Lutheran Church, which explains my love of hymns, as well as a few of my endearing personality quirks. McDoc, on the other hand, was raised Roman Catholic, and we … Continue reading
Poring over the list of GRAMMY Nominations in the Classical Category has become a holiday tradition for me ever since I became the Classical Music Blogger for the GRAMMYs back in 2009. It always provides a fascinating cross-section of the … Continue reading
Day 7: Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith – “Winter Wonderland“ McDoc and I both grew up in California — he in Orange County in the sunny south, and I in the Napa Valley in the frequently foggy north. But … Continue reading
Day 6: Christina Rossetti/Gustav Holst – “In The Bleak Midwinter” Snow and sleet came to Pittsburgh today, and that reminds me of the classic Christmas hymn, “In The Bleak Midwinter.” The Gustav Holst setting was a Christmas Eve tradition with … Continue reading
The GRAMMY Nominations are out! Tomorrow I’ll comb through and comment on all the goodness, but for now, here’s a pdf of the raw data! Classical GRAMMY Nominations Let’s keep in touch! Follow MMN on Twitter! Like MMN on Facebook!
Day 5: The Specials – “Nelson Mandela” I was out running errands today when I got the news that Nelson Mandela had died. Whenever I hear his name, I hear the unaccompanied voices at the beginning of this song: It … Continue reading
Day 4: Benjamin Britten, “This Little Babe” from A Ceremony of Carols A Ceremony of Carols by English composer Benjamin Britten is a well-loved and frequently-performed choral work for the Christmas season, scored for treble voices (women, girls, or boys) … Continue reading
Day 3: Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson, “Christmas Time Is Here” I’m one of those purists who laments what I call “Christmas creep,” that is, the marketing blitz in the U.S. that seems to start a little earlier every year. … Continue reading