Five Tastes Of Classical Holiday Cheer
Organist Cameron Carpenter: not your typical holiday celebrant. Michael Hart/courtesy of the artist hide caption
Organist Cameron Carpenter: not your typical holiday celebrant.
Michael Hart/courtesy of the artistWith Hanukkah and Christmas fast bearing down upon us, we're drowning in musical eggnog. As a palate cleanser, we thought we'd burrow down into the depths of YouTube for some quick nips of classical cheer.
Have you found other great holiday music clips online? Share them with us in the comments section.
Five Jewels Of Yuletide YouTubery
Cameron Carpenter: 'Sleigh Ride'
- Song:
- from Cameron Live!
- by Cameron Carpenter
The head-turning American organist has offered up a singular, delightfully loony take on Leroy Anderson's classic 'Sleigh Ride.' In the holiday spirit, all proceeds from download purchases of this version are going to Carpenter's alma mater, The American Boychoir School in Princeton, NJ. (And check out the custom shoes!)
Cameron Carpenter's organ arrangement of 'Sleigh Ride.'
Cameron Carpenter YouTube
Phil Kline: 'Unsilent Night'
- Song:
- from Unsilent Night
- by Phil Kline
As he describes in this video, New York-based composer Phil Kline first invited a group of friends to help create a Yuletide "mobile sound sculpture" in 1992. Since then, every December, participants obtain one of four tracks created by Kline, then walk along a designated street course with boomboxes playing the different parts simultaneously in what Kline likens to a modern caroling session. "Unsilent Nights" are taking place in cities and towns across North America this month — Bill Murray turned up at the one in Manhattan.
Composer Phil Kline's 'Unsilent Night.'
Arts And Ideas YouTube
'Messiah' At The Mall
- Song:
- from George Frideric Handel: Messiah
- by John Eliot Gardiner
Last winter, a photography business in Ontario, Canada, near Niagara Falls, wanted to spread some holiday cheer — so they enlisted a local community choir for a flash-mob performance of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah. The performance was a huge viral hit, viewed more than 35 million times on YouTube.
A memorable day at a mall food court.
Alphabet Photography YouTube
Berlin Philharmonic: Tchaikovsky, 'The Nutcracker'
- Song:
- from Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker
- by Simon Rattle
You'll have to forgive us the obvious pun, but in 2010, Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic released a really marvelous — cracking, even — recording of Tchaikovsky's beloved holiday ballet. Here are some excerpts plus insider insights, such as this one from Rattle: "For any normal [non-ballet] symphony orchestra, it is a nightmare to play."
Canadian Brass: Scheidt, 'Echo ad manuale duplex'
- Song:
- from Echo: Glory of Gabrieli
- by Canadian Brass
This is not strictly Christmas music per se — but there are few things that say "holiday" more than a brass spectacular. Here the phenomenal Canadian Brass and a few friends play music by the German early Baroque composer Samuel Scheidt.
The Canadian Brass and friends.
Canadian Brass YouTube