Author: Kelly Sedinger

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Your Daily Dose of Christmas AND Tone Poem Tuesday

Two birds, one stone! Here’s a symphonic poem by British composer Arnold Bax, titled “Christmas Eve”. Apparently it was originally titled “Christmas Eve in the Mountains”, but Bax revised the work some years later and shortened the title. It’s an atmospheric and dense work, typical of Bax’s sound. There is no specific “Christmas” material here, but the work is redolent of Bax’s usual meditations on nature and mood. Here he is after the feel of a cold, crystal-clear morning in the mountains, and what morning is colder or clearer than Christmas Eve?

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Your Daily Dose of Christmas (yesterday edition)

Yesterday was something of a train wreck, folks. Not awful, but a few time-consuming inconveniences happened at the end of the day that occupied my attention for what was left of my day. But we’re back in the saddle! Here’s yesterday’s selection, which is a rendition of “Carol of the Bells” that I just heard this morning. Time is weird, huh?

Anyway, this performance is by a group called “BarlowGirl”. I’d never heard of them until this very tune popped up on a Christmas music channel at work. Apparently they were a Christian music group that disbanded some years ago. I’m not much for that genre so I doubt I’ll be exploring much farther than their Christmas music, but as far as this song goes, they have some really nice vocal harmonies going on. I’ve never much liked “Carol of the Bells”, but this is actually impressive.

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