#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHoliday Week 1 2023

A holiday tradition (of sorts) returns! Since 2017, the #ClassicsaDay team has made holiday music the December theme. The music shared doesn't necessarily have to be related to Christmas. It can be any classical work associated with either the sacred or secular activities of December (or even just weather).

The challenge is to post video performances of the works that fit the theme in your social media channels. As always, I tried to share selections I haven't used before. Here are my picks for the first week of #ClassicalHoliday

12/04/23 Louis-Claude Daquin: Premier Noel

Daquin published a collection of twelve noels for the keyboard in 1757. The tunes were transcribed from traditional French sources. Many of these survive, in part, because of Daquin's work.

 

12/05/23 Mykola Leontovych: Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells)

Ukraine composer Leontovych wrote the original song "Shehedryk in 1914. 22 years later Peter Wilhousky set the text "Carol of the Bells" by which it's known today.

 

12/06/23 William Henry Fry: Santa Claus Symphony

Fry was the first symphonist born in the United States (1813). He was a major figure in Philadelphia, with seven symphonies and an opera to his credit. The 1858 Santa Claus Symphony was his most popular work.

 

12/07/23 William Byrd: Out of the Orient Crystal Skies

Byrd is thought to have composed this anthem around 1613. It would have been sung during Epiphany.

 

12/07/23 Johann Kuhnau: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

Johann Sebastian Bach was hired to replace Kuhnau as Kantor of Thomaskirche, Leipzig. It was a tough act to follow. In his two decades there, Kuhnau wrote vast amounts of music, some best-selling novels, and published collections of music.

 

12/08/23 Johann Schelle: Ehre sie Gott in der Höhe

Schnelle was kantor at Thomsaskirche, Leipzig in the late 1600s. J.S. Bach would hold that position 20 years later. This is one of the many cantatas he wrote for the Advent season during his tenure.