Variations on a Theme: Holiday/Winter Playlist

So I got bored of not doing anything creative lately so I decided to start doing a series of posts called "Variations on a Theme." Once a month I’ll put together a playlist based on a semi-random theme of my choosing, and talk about each song as well as its order in the playlist. I’ll put together a post about them all with links to the songs, hopefully this will be a cool way to share some knowledge about obscure songs and fun facts about them!

For the first post, I wanted to do something with all the holiday music blasting around. But here’s the thing: I really don’t like most holiday music, and I am not the hugest fan of the focus on Christmas as opposed to all holidays around this time. So this turned into a mix of holiday and winter themed music, winter is much more than just holidays but there’s also songs that are technically unrelated to holidays, they just pop into my head when I think about this time of year.

So without further ado:

1. “Waltz of the Snowflakes” (From the ballet The Nutcracker) by Peter Illich Tchaikovsky

Let’s get this party started with a little instrumental ballet music. This is one of the most iconic pieces from this holiday production that every dance company and their mom puts on. While the ballet does have to do with Christmas, I think that this specific piece is more about winter in general and the dance within snowflakes falling. It is also a gorgeous piece of music, with the violins and high woodwinds leading the melody. A choir even joins in at certain points, evoking the beauty and wonder at the sight of falling snow. This is it, this is the holiday season for me. Of course the dance is really what makes this piece, but even without any visuals it still does so much to evoke what every kid feels when they see snow falling outside.

2. “Winter Song” by The Head and the Heart

Let’s keep the mood slow and mellow for a second. This song is from the band The Head and the Heart’s self-titled album (and also their first one) released back in 2011. The song opens with simply the guitar, setting the mood for the rest of the piece. The lyrics reference a relationship that’s on the rocks, where the winter is the trouble that has set in. This is an almost perfect offset to the mood that “Waltz of the Snowflakes” evokes, here winter is cold and the absence of life. Instead of wonder, there’s only despair. Having said that, it is a hopeful piece where the speaker will be “back again to stay” at the end.

3. “Danse of the Floreadores” by Duke Ellington

Returning to “The Nutcracker” now, but in a different format. Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington adapted the Nutcracker Suite for a jazzy big band setting back in 1960. This set of pieces is incredible mostly in that there are very few arrangements of classical music into jazz that actually work. Thankfully this is the exception to the rule, all of the Duke Ellington Nutcracker pieces are amazing! This one is my favorite, there’s the opening with all the different instruments featured over a saxy refrain that then contrasts with the section parts later in the piece. This is the Ellington big band at its finest, they are all so tight and perfectly in sync with each other. We’ll be transitioning into more upbeat, swing music soon, so this piece makes the ideal transition being part of both the jazz and classical worlds.

4. “When Winter Comes” performed by Eddy Duchin’s big band

This song was written by Irving Berlin, but I enjoy this performance/recording immensely. You can tell from the sound that it was recorded decades ago. The horns are so together that they could be one instrument, and there’s enough scratch in the voice of the vocalist so bring to mind times long past. The lyrics talk about needing a lover when winter comes, a classic theme for a song from the time. Honestly there isn’t much too this piece, but it’s lovely to listen to.

5. “Ketsad M'rakdin” by The Alexandria Kleztet 

The Alexandria Kleztet is a band in the DC area that specializes in Eastern European and Jewish music. So here’s our token Jewish song! This band gets really great sound though, with the fiddle and the clarinet going nuts over the bass and drums. You can tell that they have been influenced heavily by jazz in the rhythms being played, but they also manage to stay true to their roots and capture the feel of Eastern European dances.

6. “Christmas Swing” by Django Reinhardt 

Reinhardt is the father of the modern jazz guitar player. He was incredible as a musician, self-taught, and made guitar a serious instrument worthy of the shredding solos we hear today. There isn’t anything really overtly Christmas-y about this song besides the title, but it’s a great piece to showcase his talent. It also fits well with the vibe of “When Winter Comes” because they both sound like old pieces, just because of the scratch. The end of the year tends to be a nostalgic time, might as well evoke that in the music being played as well.

7. “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald is a goddess among mortals. Her voice is lovely and so melodic and clear. I could rant about her for a while. This piece is a little-known gem of hers that really deserves more attention. The backing horns are the perfect compliment to her voice, and you can practically hear her smiling as she’s singing. The trumpet solo reflects her vocals as well, with the phrasing and choice to have it muted. (Sidenote: there’s also a Billie Holiday version of this tune.) The perfect song for cold winter nights!

8. “Greensleeves” arr. Michael Sweeney 

This is a gorgeous arrangement of a gorgeous tune for concert band. I’m not sure why this is considered a Christmas song, but we’re going to go with it. The melody in the high woodwinds is perfectly introduced over the French horns, and it soars through the different sections effortlessly. The backing of the melody also deserves plenty of credit since it perfectly compliments it and reinforces it through the different chord changes.

9. “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Let’s wrap up this party with one of the few Christmas songs that I can stand. The main reason why I actually like this song has to do with the fact that it adds a little bit of guilt into the holiday season. It opens with “and so this is Christmas/and what have you done?” The holidays tend to be such a decadent time, what if we sat down to think about what we did for each other in the past year? Are we proud of ourselves? What do we want to change in the new year? John Lennon and Yoko Ono bought several billboards saying “War is Over If You Want It” (which I find hilarious) to reinforce their point here that all we had to do was STOP FIGHTING and there wouldn’t be any fighting. Which is a childish, simple idea, but I think that’s the point. A classic song, but a classic song that will make you think if you paid attention to it.

And there you have it, roughly 30 minutes of holiday/winter music! I hope you found some new songs to add to your party playlists, or at least a new perspective on some songs you already knew. The theme for next month is going to be Video Games so look out for that to drop on February 1^st!