Jingle Bells The original lyrics of this paean to winter outings are the 1857 creation of James Lord Pierpont—possibly for his Boston Sunday School class, at Thanksgiving. The source of the tune, however, is not known— Pierpont did not use this tune. The version on this concert is the work of Jack Gold and Marty Paich, who have juiced up the rhythm and taken a few liberties with Pierpont’s text. As I have noted before, this tune invites embellishment, parody, or appropriation for other contexts, even inappropriate ones!
Bidi Bom This song is one of several hundred creations of David Eddleman: Dr. Eddleman, 83, and currently a resident of the New York metro area, taught at the College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown NJ for 22 years. In addition, he wrote works for schools, churches, synagogues, children’s choirs, bands, and other musical consumers. Those works include many Christmas and Hanukah-themed songs, and the simple text of this one—”Holiday is here, it’s a happy time of year, once more the time sung in melody and rhyme; candles alight, and their flame is so bright, reflected in little children’s eyes; come and dance to the tune ‘neath a holidaying moon”– obviously fits the season regardless of one’s religious connection. (Fans of “Fiddler on the Roof” may also detect a similarity to a hit from that show!)
Mary Had a Baby William Levi Dawson (1899-1990) is a towering figure of African-American music. Born in Alabama, Dawson has prominent Chicago connections: He studied here at both Chicago Musical College and the American Conservatory of Music, and in 1927-30 he was a trombonist with the Chicago Civic Orchestra. He taught in Kansas City schools in the early 1930s, but then moved to Tuskegee Institute in his native state, where he was instrumental in developing that Institute’s choir into an internationally famous ensemble. He did compose instrumental music—one of his earliest compositions, a trio for violin, cello and piano, was premiered by the Kansas City Symphony— and, while his “Negro Symphony” (1934) is also highly regarded, he is most respected for his lush choral arrangements of spirituals. Like most of those, this one is of traditional origin, and its simple message is emphasized by the gospel style Dawson knew so well.
The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy This song has the same message as the previous one; but this time its origin is in the Caribbean. The song was written down in 1942 as James Bryce, a 92-year-old West Indies resident, sang it from memory. Not only have many artists recorded this work, but it has also been included in at least 25 hymn collections.
Let There Be Peace on Earth Another song that has made its way into many hymn and sacred song collections emerged from the difficult upbringing of one of its creators– Jill Jackson Miller. She was born in Lawrence, MO in 1913, orphaned at three, and grew up in a foster home; she attended high school in Kansas City MO but then went to Hollywood, where she appeared in some low-budget films during the 1930s. She married Felix Jackson, a German immigrant writer and director, but the 1944 failure of that marriage— which produced two daughters— left her despondent and suicidal. Somehow she found a religious footing and began to focus on writing— initially, with freelance magazine articles and children’s stories. In 1946 she met Warner Brothers musician Sy Miller, and they were married in 1949; with his encouragement, the couple formed Jan-Lee Music, with Jill writing words and her husband composing. In 1955 they wrote this work for the International Children’s Choir of Long Beach CA. Mrs. Miller thereafter devoted much of her own time to encouraging efforts toward world peace, speaking at gatherings worldwide. The Millers’ signature song, in addition to capturing the attention of many other artists, won the Valley Forge Freedom Foundation’s “George Washington Medal” and also an award from the National Council of Christians and Jews.
Tropichristmas This medley begins with a brief parody of “Let it Snow”, Jule Styne and Sammy Kahn’s response to July heat in Hollywood; but it quickly moves on to two unusually eclectic themes: The first, “(How’d ja like to spend Christmas on) Christmas Island”, was written by Lyle Moraine and first recorded by the Andrews Sisters in 1946 with Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians. Moraine almost certainly had not visited Christmas Island– about 9 by 12 miles, surrounded by forbidding cliffs, located in the Indian Ocean some 200 miles south of Sumatra, and chiefly notable for its wildlife: Seabirds, reptiles, and, especially, red crabs, which live in the forests and migrate to the sea each December to spawn. Christmas Island was first explored, and named, by a British captain who arrived on Christmas Day 1863 (it was, however, shown earlier on naval charts). The island, which also has a history of phosphate rock mining, is an Australian territory (though the nearest part of that continent is over 900 miles away!); much of it is a national park, and it is home to about 1800 people. And, yes, there is an airport, and tourism is a commercial staple— perhaps, in part, because of this song.
The second song in this medley is arguably stranger still: Mele Kalikimaka, written in 1949 by Robert Alex Anderson, and first recorded in 1950 by Bing Crosby with— you guessed it— the Andrews Sisters— purports to describe the delights of Christmas in Hawaii. While that eponymous greeting is indeed used in the 50th state, it is not Hawaiian in origin. It originated as an attempt to phonetically render the English phrase “Merry Christmas” for Hawaiians; but it fails to do so because that language lacks some of the sounds of English, and does not allow consonants (such as the final “s” in Christmas) at the end of syllables. Notwithstanding that problem, if you visit at Christmas, you will be greeted happily with that phrase– a tribute to not only sunshine but also the sunny dispositions of the locals!
Most Wonderful Time of the Year Written in 1963 by Edward Pola and George Wyle for an “Andy Williams Christmas” TV special, the second of those annual programs, it was on the Andy Williams Christmas album released that October (but “White Christmas” remained the album theme). It was #5 of Billboard’s Top 10 Holiday Songs in 2009.
Silver Bells First performed in the movie, “The Lemon Drop Kid”, which hit theaters in early 1951, starring Marilyn Maxwell and Bob Hope; a recording by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards appeared during the 1950 Christmas season. Jay Livingston and Ray Evans collaborated on both words and music.
Ding Dong Merrily on High This is a traditional French dance tune, first printed in the sixteenth century. The lyrics were written by English citizen George Ratcliffe Woodward, and first published in 1924. Woodward was interested in “change ringing” of church bells (there are Chicago-area groups that also participate in that activity), which may have suggested his subject.
White Christmas Written for the 1942 film “Holiday Inn”, where it was sung by Bing Crosby, with his co-star Marjorie Reynolds (but her voice was dubbed by Martha Mears!). Crosby’s recording became the best-selling single of all time, with more than 50 million copies sold. The version the Chorus is using on this concert begins with a verse that explains why the composer (Irving Berlin) misses the titular weather…
- R. Fancher 2019