If I was going to be completely honest (and I do try to make a habit of it), I would have to say that I really don’t like much Christmas music. I know that’s practically blasphemy to many Christmas die hards, but it takes all of about one day for me to be done with Christmas carols. Less if it happens to be October or earlier. And I have three children in my house that are already breaking out the Christmas music!
Maybe it’s the bland, trite arrangements that make me groan, or maybe it’s just the pervasiveness of it the last couple months of the year. I don’t know for sure. But just as I will continue to teach Fur Elise for the sake of my students, I will continue to endure the familiar yuletide tunes to support these motivated aspiring pianists. That makes me a nice teacher, right? 🙂
All that said, I was intrigued by the latest newsletter from Alfred Publishing on “A Creative Christmas.” Robert Vandall talks through his latest contribution to the Christmas repertoire – Christmas Extravaganza – and the various composition techniques he employed to “have moments of pianism and creativity that would allow students to shine, give teachers valuable musical concepts to teach, and audiences something out of the norm to enjoy.” I’m actually looking forward to playing through some of these selections and hopefully finding some new, fresh, inspiring music that I can enjoy listening to this Christmas season!
Peter says
There is always a real gem to be uncovered in the Christmas music genre. Even though I’m inclined to agree that the onset of the 3 month Christmas is tough to stomach enjoy this. Its sultry, swingy and boozy what do you think? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiaYZlHITvQ