Corelli’s Christmas Concerto
The sound of yuletide bells is blended with the melodic clamor executed by the musicians in the kettle drum section of the orchestra. Then comes the burst of triangles and harmonious fraternizing efforts of the horn and string sections. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto” is more secular than joyously proclaiming the habitual character of the once jolly and cheerful season of holiday mirth. Unlike Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker,” which both children and adults enjoy for its musical libretto and lively ballet, this work may not excite children as much.
Barber: Die Natali, Choral Preludes for Christmas
Like any work of Barber, the Die Natali” does not deviate from his signature pompous and robust musicality. As a famed composer, Barber’s unique musical nuances are on full display in this piece. “Die Natali” has been used in many school productions during the season of St. Nicholas, featuring his host of reindeer, legendary sleigh, and magical sack filled with bottomless gifts and goodies for “nice” little children.
Often associated with holiday imagery, choral groups huddle together in warm clothing to combat the winter cold. This is especially true in Barber’s Die Natali,” a series of choral preludes meant for the time of roasted chestnuts, woolen scarves and hats, and jovial and generous smiles. It is a time of charitable camaraderie and brotherhood among the living world, commemorating the birth of baby Jesus for most Catholic countries. These choirs can often be found performing on the streets.
Pietra Salcedo in Antonio Vivaldi
La Historia de un Canziones por la bailar y vida explains the poetic imagery in Vivaldi’s work to music majors and lovers. The sheet music directions for sound dynamics and tempo provide insight into the sublime and lyrical qualities of the piece. These factors showcase Antonio Vivaldi’s penchant for infusing his distinct musical linguistics with dramatic inventiveness and ingenuity.
This composer often used ordinary events of life in his works, such as the sound of breath on a snowy morning breaking the transparent air or a dog barking to catch attention. His music was akin to creative storytelling, with compositions telling a story. As a result, Vivaldi is considered one of the forerunners of program music (61).
When listening to Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Cellos in G Minor,” one may be surprised that the music is not attempting to emulate the depths of despair, as the French refer to as “l’ pathetique.” Vivaldi’s arrangement for two cellos, in a minor key no less, is delightfully lacking in the macabre qualities typically associated with grief and mourning. These elements are often identified with the sonorous ululations that originate from a cello’s diaphragm (in this case, two cellos), which are considered to be the proverbial hearts of cellos. When strings of a cello bow stroke and caress its body form, sublime musical musings and feelings emanate. The resulting sound allows abstract and lyrical expressions to communicate with man’s subconscious and sleeping psyche.
Grainger’s Molly on the Shore”
Listening to Grainger’s “Molly on the Shore” gives any audience a delightful mixture of musical imagery that stems from an imaginative combination of legends from the wood folk forest pixies, brownies, and the lovely, mischievous fairies of Queen Mab and her sister, the Lady of Lake. One can imagine visions of pungent hickory smoke from lobsters and saltwater bounty being broiled and roasted over a crackling clam-bake fire. There is also picturesque conjuring of children, ladies, and dashing male debonair revelers in sailor outfits from the Gibson era. Then you can almost taste the scent of candied apples and touch the tip of a ribbon which is presently entwining with soft cascades of twirling hair from sprightly youths who are participating in a game of ring o’ ribbons or the ribbons game popular during Victorian era.
One can almost imagine the amber eiderdown of the lasses’ wavy hair. There are brunettes and blondes with their verdant green eyes, honeysuckle brown irises, or even angelic blue ones like those painted on Botticelli’s beloved cherubs. Molly could be one of these girls. The orchestration in Grainger’s Molly on the Shore” is reminiscent of the soft lolling of patriotic bagpipes and fiddler jigs common to cockney Scotland, Ireland, and the woodland country of England and Europe in general.” (Quotation taken from Andrew Gowan’s Self Portrait of Grainger.)
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Greensleeves
Fantasia on Greensleeves” is a haunting and romantic musical composition by composer Vaughan Williams. Its embodiment is almost Shakespearean, with a cross juxtaposition of three of his well-loved classic plays: the ethereal Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the equally dreamy Two Gentlemen of Verona.
The Fantasia” dance incorporates elements of courtly dances from medieval times. It also includes the pas de deux, which is a dance between two people that tells the story of ethereal lovers in a private rendezvous, protected by nature and illuminated by moonlight. The dancers’ faces are radiant with love for each other. Finally, there are juicy berries that symbolize fertility and the ripeness of an apocalyptic birthing, representing the birth of a new romance.
Tchaikovsky’s Selections from The Nutcracker
Finally, we come to one of the most beloved Christmas ballets of all time: Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” This sublime ballet features acts such as the ever-popular Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies and the pas de deux of the Toy Soldier and the Doll, and lastly, The Dance of the Mouse King.
In the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies, listeners can immediately recognize the delightful and lovely character of the dance. This is due to Tchaikovsky’s decision to write in a myriad of syncopated rhythmic bars. These bars are given their character by a series of staccato beat notes that dramatize, in musical form, the sugar-coated wings of the purple lavender donned sugar-plum fairies of the ballet.
The musical libretto of the ballet requires contrasts in pitch and tone dynamics to accurately depict the alternating movements of its narrative. The creeping, playful, and cheeky approach of the fairies is complemented by bursts of regal up-strokes on the violins during the dance of the Toy Soldier. These bursts seem to herald and announce the coming dance movements of the danseur who portrays the Toy Soldier. This choreography involves great bounds and manly grand jeté leaps set to Tchaikovsky’s musical libretto. “The Nutcracker” ballet has been a joy to listen to while writing this paper.
Works Cited
- Gowan, Andrew. Self-Portrait of Grainger. Oxford University Press, 2007.
- Fanfare. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on Greensleeves,” Oboe Concerto, and Tuba Concerto. France, 2007.
- Leurzalt, Ettiene. Corelli and Christmas. New York: New Bookwagon Press, 2000.
- Salcedo, Pietra Antonio Vivaldi: La Historia de un Canziones por Bailar y Vida! Madrid: Marzianna Publishing, 2001.
