Author Archives: ksedinger

So, what is a “carol”, anyway? In our time, the only “carols” we think about in the musical sense are Christmas carols, which seem to be a subset of “Christmas songs” in general: the carols are the traditional ones that … Continue reading →

Arnold Schoenberg seems to have a reputation as having been more intellectually interested in tonal experimentation than actually writing beautiful music…and by that I may well mean, “That’s how I thought of Arnold Schoenberg for many years.” Well, that’s unfair, and … Continue reading →

In addition to music and photography and literary content creators, the last couple of years I’ve been following a bunch of “cozy content” creators on YouTube and Tiktok. These are almost always women (seriously, I have yet to find a … Continue reading →

So, what makes a Christmas song a “Christmas Song”, anyway? Does the lyrical content have to be specifically relevant to Christmas? Obviously not, as many of the most accepted and beloved songs for this time of year don’t mention Christmas … Continue reading →

Somehow I never knew that Franz Liszt wrote a suite of piano pieces called Weihnachtsbaum, which translates to “Christmas Tree”. It’s definitely not one of Liszt’s famous pieces; apparently its partially-seasonal nature combined with its general lack of virtuosic fireworks (well, … Continue reading →

Unlike many in the Western world, for some reason “Fairytale of New York” has only been on my radar for a few years. I’m not sure how it so thoroughly eluded me, other than to note that this kind of … Continue reading →

I could write a lengthy intro essay for this one…or I could just write, “Here’s Mr. John Denver.” Choices, choices. Here’s Mr. John Denver.