A Carol Primer...

Hallo Yankee Hobbit Fans! I believe you now number 4!

So here's my Christmas/Hannukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/End of the year gift to you, this primer. And that's pronounced PRIH-mer like Dick and Jane, not PRY-mer as in base coat. I would have done it in IPA, but this goofy thing doesn't support the font code. Rats.

Anyhoo! Here we go:

1) The First Nowell: Sometimes this is spelled "The First Nöel," which is wrong. Why? Because Nowell is an Old English term for "greeting" or "salutation" or "celebratory announcement." Which makes the opening line make sense: "the first announcement the angel did say was to certain (i.e. calm, reassure, keep from freaking out) poor shepherds in fields where they lay." I picked this random info up along the way, but I can't prove it– so if you know something, let a Hobbit know. But I did find this, and #2 on this post was already in there before I saw it...

Another bit of trivia about this tune, is that it appears in diminution (professor talk for really fast) in the opening of the Cafe Momus scene in Puccini's La Bohême.

The link for this text is really arcane, but has fun tidbits of info, including all of the 9 verses. Did we even know there were 9?

2) God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen: Note the placement of the comma in that title. The gentlemen in question are not modified to be merry, they are commanded by the imperative statement "God rest you/ye" to remain merry. This website (soon to be a favorite), lists as humorous alterations: "God Bless Ye, Anti-Spammers" and "God Rest Ye, Poor Small Businessmen" among others.

3) Do You Hear What I Hear?: OOOOOOh. This one sends me over the edge. In the third verse, the shepherd boy says to the mighty King, "Do you know what I know?" Then he elucidates that by saying, "in your palace warm, mighty King." Again, no vocal roadkill with that comma, folks. The shepherd boy is not ascribing qualities of warm fuzziness to the king, who he probably had to walk across fire and fight a bastion of bureaucrat types to see. He's contrasting the warmth of the palace in which the King lives to the cold manger in which the Baby Jesus is shivering. Makes me laugh in every single recorded version of that song!

4) It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: This one's more of a question than a rant. Exactly which ghost stories are we supposed to be telling? I never understood that one. The only ghosts I associate with Christmas are the three from A Christmas Carol, which is only one story. Hmmm.

5) Up on the Housetop: Another curiosity. There's a line this one where the gifts each child has been given are described. Most of them make sense. But then there's Will: his stocking gets a "glorious fill." "Fill" isn't used much alone as a noun anymore, if it ever was. I imagine that it made sense then, or maybe it was just to complete the rhyme– and I have no problem with that. But the song has ben re-made several times since it appeared what sounds like 40 years ago and each incarnation mentions Will and his glorious fill. I get the giggles.

6) White Christmas: The preantepenultimate line begins, "with every Christmas card I write" More comma crimes– not that the text I've provided is punctuated, which also proves my point below. Here's your pre-quiz quiz: Does that line belong to the preceding text, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" or to the following text,"May your days be merry and bright..." Not sure? Look through the Christmas cards you've received this month and see how many of the have "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" written inside... This one sets up a WHOLE other discussion of music breaks vs. text breaks. We'll save that for later!

My point in all this, and I have one, is that all texts have a message to transmit. And even those of us whose sole singing experience involves soap and running water have a responsibility to what the song is trying to say. Since I teach people who aim to sing in places other than showers, that is the second most important thing I want them to understand. So, a little food for thought this holiday season!

As a bonus, here's a neat holiday carol quiz. There are a couple of tricky questions on here, but I got a 92%. Have fun, folks!

"Merrrrrrrrry Christmas, and to all a good night!"

Word of the day (short but sweet)

So, I've been working on all of these analysis papers these last few weeks. And I had an epiphany. I love words. I love their derivations. Try this on for size:

ANALYSIS
Anal (meaning, referring to one's arse)
Lysis (meaning, to break down, usually in a violent matter).

SO, the little known meaning of analysis is "to bust one's arse."

Ok, ok, I'm kidding. Or am I???

G'nite folks!

You may touch me now...

*Ahem!* Ladies and Gentlemen, I am thrilled to announce that Requiem: We Are So Lightly Here, the freakishly stunning CD from Conspirare: Craig Hella Johnson and Company of Voices, has been nominated for a Grammy Award in Category 99, Best Choral Performance. Get it while you can, folks!

Yours truly has a solo on said album (Stephen Paulus's "The Road Home." Great piece. Disc 2, Track 6, FYI). One might say, ergo, that yours truly is a Grammy-nominated artist. Hmmm. Gotta find a way to leverage that, right? Super congratulations to Craig and the rest of my fabulous, amazing, gifted, wonderful co-Grammy-nominated colleagues.

In other way cool news: My wonderful friend and colleague, pianist Melissa Marse and I had a rare chance to sit and chill the other day at the Baptist place (how many music schools can boast two Melissas on the faculty?). One of the framed pieces on her wall was a musical genealogy. Her dad had looked into who her teachers were and who their teachers were and so on to see how far back he could get. He has traced her musical lineage all the way back to Giacomo Carissimi, a 17th century composer. In her "family tree" are some of my favorite composers: Alessandro Scarlatti, Ludwig van Beethoven, etc. Mind blowing.

It started me to thinking. I have absolutely no idea who my musical forebears are. For that matter, I don't know who my biological forebears are either, for much the same reasons. That information pretty much died with the people who had it. Kind of makes me feel rootless-ish. I could count from my current teachers– one of them thinks he can go all the way back to Garcia, whose name I came across in researching that paper I had to do last week. That'd be pretty cool.

As for the "real" ancestors? My uncle gave that a shot once. Didn't get very far. Maybe when I retire I'll have time and better resources to hunt some of that stuff down. I'll bet my kiddos (that would be the nieces and nephews) would like to know some of that stuff.

In case we don't chat before then, Merry Christmas and Happy 2007!