THE DIONYSUS ENSEMBLE
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Christmas Concerto - by Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 by Corelli, known commonly as the Christmas Concerto, was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6. The concerto bears the inscription Fatto per la notte di Natale (made for the night of Christmas). Its composition date is uncertain, but there is a record of Corelli having performed a Christmas concerto in 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron.
The Snowman Suite – by Howard Blake
Music Box Dance
Walking in the Air
Dance of the Snowmen
The composer Howard Blake wrote the music in 1982 for the British animated film based on the late Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book of the same name about a little boy who befriends a snowman.
A Foggy Day - by George Gershwin
"A Foggy Day" is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film A Damsel in Distress. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" in reference to the pollution-induced pea soup fogs that were common in London during that period.
The Blue Danube - by Johann Strauss II
"The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "On the beautiful blue Danube" or "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" was composed in 1866. Originally a song, Strauss adapted it into a purely orchestral version for the 1867 Paris World's Fair, and it became a great success in this form.
It is the most famous waltz ever written – actually not one waltz but a chain of five interlinked waltz themes. It is Austria’s second national anthem & is the inescapable conclusion to each New Year’s Day concert in Vienna.
“Hallelujah Chorus” & "For Unto Us A Child is Born" from Messiah – by George Frideric Handel
In 1741, Handel was heavily in debt following a string of musical failures. It seemed that his career was over and he may even be forced to go to debtors’ prison & on April 8, 1741, he gave what he believed to be his final concert.
Later that year, two key events changed the course of Handel’s life and the landscape of music forever—his friend Charles Jennens wrote a libretto taken from the Bible, based on the life of Jesus Christ, and gave it to Handel. Then, Handel was given funding by a group of charities from Dublin, Ireland, to compose a new work for a benefit performance that would help free men from debtors’ prison. Handel would also receive his own commission for composing the work, which in turn helped him on his path to reversing his own misfortune.
The composition of Messiah , the complete 260-page oratorio, began on August 22, 1741, and was composed in just 24 days, when Handel finished the final orchestration on September 14, 1741.
The Dance of the Mirlitons from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act classical ballet by Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination.
"The Dance of the Mirlitons" is one of the eight original pieces in Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1892 "Nutcracker Suite." The famous melody is also referred to as "The Dance of the Reed Flutes" or "Marzipan." Today the tune appears in commercials and films as well as thousands of annual productions of "The Nutcracker" ballet. It is one of the most recognizable pieces of music from the ballet and is usually danced by a small group of 4 to 8 women, or by a trio of two women and one man. Costumes traditionally display either reed-flutes or fruit. Mirliton refers to a pear-shaped vegetable or its vine.
Let It Go from Fozen – by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
"Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film Frozen, whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song was performed in its original show-tune version in the film by American actress and singer Idina Menzel in her vocal role as Queen Elsa.
The song presents Queen Elsa, who flees her kingdom when she publicly loses control of her ability to generate ice. Up in the mountains and away from the townspeople, Elsa realizes that she no longer needs to hide her ability and rejoices in not only being able to use her power freely but also the freedom from others' expectations of her as a royal. She sheds her royal accessories, creates a living snowman, and builds an ice castle for herself.
When You Wish Upon A Star by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington
"When You Wish Upon a Star" is a song written for the 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio, based on the 1883 children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The original version was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and in the final scene of the film.
"When You Wish Upon a Star" is widely considered as the signature song of The Walt Disney Company and is often used as such in the production logos at the beginning of many Disney films since the 1980s.
In Japan, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, the song has become a Christmas song, often referring to the Star of Bethlehem. The Swedish version is called "Ser du stjärnan i det blå", (lit. 'Do you see the star in the blue'), and the Danish title is "Når du ser et stjerneskud" (lit. 'When you see a shooting star'). The song features in Disney's one-hour Christmas special From All of Us to All of You, originally broadcast in 1958 in the US, but now considered a Christmas tradition in the Nordic countries, where it is broadcast each Christmas Eve.
Concerto in F minor “L’inverno” (or “Winter”) by Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concerti, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720. They were a revolution in musical conception: Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires. Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke.
Largo
Before the fire to pass peaceful,
Contented days while the rain outside pours down.
Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet completed in 1889, with it's focus on the two main conflicting forces of good (the Lilac Fairy) and evil (Carabosse). The Sleeping Beauty, now a classic in the ballet repertory, is Tchaikovsky at his best. One of his’s best-known waltzes comes from Act I of the ballet, and is danced by the corps holding garlands of flowers in celebration of Aurora’s 16th birthday.
Christmas Medley
Silver Bells by Jay Livingstone & Ray Evans
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh martn & R
Let It Snow! By Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne
White Christmas by Irving Berlin
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Trad
The greeting "a merry Christmas and a happy New Year" is recorded from the early eighteenth century; however, the history of the carol itself is unclear. Its origin probably lies in the English tradition wherein wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve, such as "figgy pudding" that was very much like modern-day Christmas. In the famous version of the song, the singer demands figgy pudding from the audience, threatening to not "go until we get some"……
Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson
During a July heat wave and drought in 1946, Leroy was digging trenches to try to find some old pipes coming from a spring. He began composing several tunes, including Sleigh Ride, in which he envisioned as a musical depiction of the winter season long ago. Some 75 years after Leroy Anderson created Sleigh Ride, the composition is still ranked as one of the 10 most popular pieces of Christmas music worldwide and frequently the #1 most popular holiday song in the United States according to ASCAP. This is in spite of the fact that the word "Christmas" is never mentioned in the lyrics which Mitchell Parish wrote several years after Anderson finished the composition.
The Carol of the Drum (Little Drummer Boy) by Katherine Davis
The Carol of the Drum (Little Drummer Boy) is a Czechoslovakian popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording. In the lyrics, the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by the Magi to the Nativity of Jesus. Without a gift for the Infant, the little drummer boy played his drum with approval from Jesus' mother, Mary, recalling, "I played my best for him" and "He smiled at me".
Last Christmas by Wham!
Release in 1984, this is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael
Whamageddon is a game played during the 24 days before Christmas in which players try to go from 1 December to the end of Christmas Eve (24 December) without hearing "Last Christmas" by Wham!. If the player hears the song between those days, they are out of the game and have to post "#Whamageddon" on social media to indicate that they have lost - Whamageddon is described as a survival game
All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
Ellis Williams / Robert Allen / Ralf Huetter / John Robie / Emil Schult / Arthur Baker / Aasim Bey Bambaataa / Walter N Afanasieff
The Christmas classic was co-written alongside Carey's then-writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. It has long been reported that the song only took 15 minutes to write!
Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 by Corelli, known commonly as the Christmas Concerto, was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6. The concerto bears the inscription Fatto per la notte di Natale (made for the night of Christmas). Its composition date is uncertain, but there is a record of Corelli having performed a Christmas concerto in 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron.
The Snowman Suite – by Howard Blake
Music Box Dance
Walking in the Air
Dance of the Snowmen
The composer Howard Blake wrote the music in 1982 for the British animated film based on the late Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book of the same name about a little boy who befriends a snowman.
A Foggy Day - by George Gershwin
"A Foggy Day" is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film A Damsel in Distress. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" in reference to the pollution-induced pea soup fogs that were common in London during that period.
The Blue Danube - by Johann Strauss II
"The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "On the beautiful blue Danube" or "By the Beautiful Blue Danube" was composed in 1866. Originally a song, Strauss adapted it into a purely orchestral version for the 1867 Paris World's Fair, and it became a great success in this form.
It is the most famous waltz ever written – actually not one waltz but a chain of five interlinked waltz themes. It is Austria’s second national anthem & is the inescapable conclusion to each New Year’s Day concert in Vienna.
“Hallelujah Chorus” & "For Unto Us A Child is Born" from Messiah – by George Frideric Handel
In 1741, Handel was heavily in debt following a string of musical failures. It seemed that his career was over and he may even be forced to go to debtors’ prison & on April 8, 1741, he gave what he believed to be his final concert.
Later that year, two key events changed the course of Handel’s life and the landscape of music forever—his friend Charles Jennens wrote a libretto taken from the Bible, based on the life of Jesus Christ, and gave it to Handel. Then, Handel was given funding by a group of charities from Dublin, Ireland, to compose a new work for a benefit performance that would help free men from debtors’ prison. Handel would also receive his own commission for composing the work, which in turn helped him on his path to reversing his own misfortune.
The composition of Messiah , the complete 260-page oratorio, began on August 22, 1741, and was composed in just 24 days, when Handel finished the final orchestration on September 14, 1741.
The Dance of the Mirlitons from The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act classical ballet by Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination.
"The Dance of the Mirlitons" is one of the eight original pieces in Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1892 "Nutcracker Suite." The famous melody is also referred to as "The Dance of the Reed Flutes" or "Marzipan." Today the tune appears in commercials and films as well as thousands of annual productions of "The Nutcracker" ballet. It is one of the most recognizable pieces of music from the ballet and is usually danced by a small group of 4 to 8 women, or by a trio of two women and one man. Costumes traditionally display either reed-flutes or fruit. Mirliton refers to a pear-shaped vegetable or its vine.
Let It Go from Fozen – by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
"Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film Frozen, whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez. The song was performed in its original show-tune version in the film by American actress and singer Idina Menzel in her vocal role as Queen Elsa.
The song presents Queen Elsa, who flees her kingdom when she publicly loses control of her ability to generate ice. Up in the mountains and away from the townspeople, Elsa realizes that she no longer needs to hide her ability and rejoices in not only being able to use her power freely but also the freedom from others' expectations of her as a royal. She sheds her royal accessories, creates a living snowman, and builds an ice castle for herself.
When You Wish Upon A Star by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington
"When You Wish Upon a Star" is a song written for the 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio, based on the 1883 children's novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The original version was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and in the final scene of the film.
"When You Wish Upon a Star" is widely considered as the signature song of The Walt Disney Company and is often used as such in the production logos at the beginning of many Disney films since the 1980s.
In Japan, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark, the song has become a Christmas song, often referring to the Star of Bethlehem. The Swedish version is called "Ser du stjärnan i det blå", (lit. 'Do you see the star in the blue'), and the Danish title is "Når du ser et stjerneskud" (lit. 'When you see a shooting star'). The song features in Disney's one-hour Christmas special From All of Us to All of You, originally broadcast in 1958 in the US, but now considered a Christmas tradition in the Nordic countries, where it is broadcast each Christmas Eve.
Concerto in F minor “L’inverno” (or “Winter”) by Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni) is a group of four violin concerti, each of which gives musical expression to a season of the year. These were composed around 1718−1720. They were a revolution in musical conception: Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), a shepherd and his barking dog, buzzing flies, storms, drunken dancers, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, and warm winter fires. Unusually for the period, Vivaldi published the concerti with accompanying sonnets (possibly written by the composer himself) that elucidated what it was in the spirit of each season that his music was intended to evoke.
Largo
Before the fire to pass peaceful,
Contented days while the rain outside pours down.
Sleeping Beauty Waltz by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet completed in 1889, with it's focus on the two main conflicting forces of good (the Lilac Fairy) and evil (Carabosse). The Sleeping Beauty, now a classic in the ballet repertory, is Tchaikovsky at his best. One of his’s best-known waltzes comes from Act I of the ballet, and is danced by the corps holding garlands of flowers in celebration of Aurora’s 16th birthday.
Christmas Medley
Silver Bells by Jay Livingstone & Ray Evans
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Hugh martn & R
Let It Snow! By Sammy Cahn & Jule Styne
White Christmas by Irving Berlin
We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Trad
The greeting "a merry Christmas and a happy New Year" is recorded from the early eighteenth century; however, the history of the carol itself is unclear. Its origin probably lies in the English tradition wherein wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve, such as "figgy pudding" that was very much like modern-day Christmas. In the famous version of the song, the singer demands figgy pudding from the audience, threatening to not "go until we get some"……
Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson
During a July heat wave and drought in 1946, Leroy was digging trenches to try to find some old pipes coming from a spring. He began composing several tunes, including Sleigh Ride, in which he envisioned as a musical depiction of the winter season long ago. Some 75 years after Leroy Anderson created Sleigh Ride, the composition is still ranked as one of the 10 most popular pieces of Christmas music worldwide and frequently the #1 most popular holiday song in the United States according to ASCAP. This is in spite of the fact that the word "Christmas" is never mentioned in the lyrics which Mitchell Parish wrote several years after Anderson finished the composition.
The Carol of the Drum (Little Drummer Boy) by Katherine Davis
The Carol of the Drum (Little Drummer Boy) is a Czechoslovakian popular Christmas song written by American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. First recorded in 1951 by the Austrian Trapp Family, the song was further popularized by a 1958 recording. In the lyrics, the singer relates how, as a poor young boy, he was summoned by the Magi to the Nativity of Jesus. Without a gift for the Infant, the little drummer boy played his drum with approval from Jesus' mother, Mary, recalling, "I played my best for him" and "He smiled at me".
Last Christmas by Wham!
Release in 1984, this is a song by British pop duo Wham!. Written and produced by George Michael
Whamageddon is a game played during the 24 days before Christmas in which players try to go from 1 December to the end of Christmas Eve (24 December) without hearing "Last Christmas" by Wham!. If the player hears the song between those days, they are out of the game and have to post "#Whamageddon" on social media to indicate that they have lost - Whamageddon is described as a survival game
All I Want For Christmas is You by Mariah Carey
Ellis Williams / Robert Allen / Ralf Huetter / John Robie / Emil Schult / Arthur Baker / Aasim Bey Bambaataa / Walter N Afanasieff
The Christmas classic was co-written alongside Carey's then-writing partner, Walter Afanasieff. It has long been reported that the song only took 15 minutes to write!
