My Holiday Playlist
Snowy walks framed by colorful lights, the smell of pine trees, the warmth of a roaring fire, hot cocoa and tea warming up my cold hands, smiles shared between my friends and family, the gift of giving thoughtful presents, and the wonderful music that underscores these joyous occasions: These are just some of the things I love about the holiday season.
For some, the holidays can be stressful: having to buy presents in crowded stores, traveling in the midst of snow storms, and organizing gatherings for friends and family. For others, like me, the holidays represent a much needed break from our busy professional lives and time spent with our loved ones. Either way, this year, I wanted to put together a holiday playlist with some of my favorite classical and traditional pieces.
There is something for everyone in this playlist. It’s not exclusively Western European classical music, but it’s also not a pop/rock playlist. It contains familiar favorites that I like to listen to every season, whether it’s Tchaikovsky or John Williams. While I occasionally enjoy Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (and it is a great holiday song) this isn’t that playlist. Instead, I wanted to evoke familiarity and accessibility through popular instrumental songs, iconic holiday voices, and even the occasional winter jazz tune.
Whether you’re stuck in traffic on the way to buy Santa’s presents for the kids or enjoying the presence of your beloved next to a romantic, crackling fire, I hope that this playlist will bring you happiness, peace, and fun.
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
Composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Nothing says “holidays” like this iconic piece by Pyotr Tchaikovsky from The Nutcracker. Originally composed for ballet, “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” is part of a series of dream sequences conjured up by the protagonist, Clara, in Act II: Land of the Sweets. It’s rumored that the original choreographer, Lev Ivanov, asked Tchaikovsky to make the music sound like water droplets shooting from a fountain.
The piece starts with pizzicato strings playing on the upbeats in a 2/4 time signature, with the celeste playing its iconic, high-register melody. Then, enter the woodwinds, trading off their downwards scales, creating intrigue and propelling the music, as a midground melodic line.
Children’s Chorner: IV. The Snow Is Dancing
Composed by Claude Debussy, performed by François-Jöel Thiollier.
Children’s Corner is a six-movement suite for piano by Debussy. Debussy dedicated this suite to his daughter, Claude-Emma (who he affectionately called “Chouchou”), when she was three years old. Debussy’s love for his daughter is evident, since, in the suite’s dedication, he wrote, “a ma chère petite Chouchou, avec les tendres excuses de son Père pour ce qui va suivre. C.D.” (To my dear little Chouchou, with tender apologies from her father for what follows). This apology has been of much speculation and has been interpreted by scholars as a foreshadow of his imminent illness. Claude Debussy died of cancer by the time his daughter was fourteen years old. Whether or not Debussy knew he was ill while he composed the Children’s Corner remains a mystery. What we do know is that these six movements capture the child-like wonder he wished would accompany his daughter throughout her life.
“The Snow Is Dancing” is the fourth movement in the suite. Written in simple ternary form, its main theme surrounds the melody of a traditional children’s song at the time. The piece means to denote the experience of playing in the snow. Known for its high level of difficulty, this piece presents the slow-paced metamorphoses of ostinati patterns, representing a young girl watching snow fall delicately to the ground. Debussy employs many harmonic resources throughout the piece, but most notably, perhaps, is his use of melodic prosody through the whole tone scale, found in the middle of the piece, to give a sense of atmospheric floating.
Merry Christmas, Mr.Lawrence
Composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, performed by Pablo Sainz-Villegas.
Of course, I couldn’t go an entire playlist without mentioning one of my favorite pieces, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” by Ryuichi Sakamoto. While this piece isn’t a conventional holiday song, it does have “Christmas” in the title and it’s a fantastically sweet and melancholic composition that fits in well with our current theme.
This piece was composed for the film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, which tells the story of a British soldier (played by David Bowie) who is captured by Japanese forces during WWII by Captain Yanoi (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto, himself) and Sergeant Hara. Based on the novel The Seed and the Sower by Laurens ve der Post, this movie focuses on bridging the cultural divide between the British and Japanese cultures. Similarly, its titular song bridges together two music cultures, thus creating a wonderful and nuanced sonorous fusion.
The song, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,” is the most famous song in the film, since, after all, it is the titular theme. Melancholic and bittersweet, this piece captures the film’s emotional drive. The title of the song references the titular scene of the movie, in which Sergeant Hara calls out, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” as a sign of the respect he gained for his former prisoner.
This song took on two forms in the movie’s soundtrack: an electronic instrumental and a vocal version (known as “Forbidden Colours”). Nevertheless, one of the most popular versions is Sakamoto’s rendition of the song on the piano. Having loved the movie and admired Sakamoto’s compositional style, I decided to include this song in my most recent album The Blue Album, as a solo guitar performance.
Carol of the Bells
Arranged and performed by George Winston.
Widely known as a popular Christmas carol, George Winston’s masterful arrangement of this classic tune is a definitive pianistic showstopper that’ll put you right into that holiday mood.
“Carol of the Bells”, or “Shchedryk”, was written by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1916. “Shchedryk” directly translates to “The Little Swallow,” and the original lyrics told the story of a swallow that flew into a household to sing of the good fortune that would fall upon that family the following spring. This song was traditionally sung, in Ukraine, on the Julian Calendar’s New Year’s Eve, in hopes of good fortune for the new year. However, the song was adapted as an English Christmas carol by Peter J. Wilhousky, with completely new lyrics, so as to associate itself with Christmas.
George Winston was a renowned American pianist who passed away this summer. Winston was an incredible instrumentalist and composer. His rendition of “Carol of the Bells” is part of his December album, released in 1982 and one of his most popular works. His approach to “Carol of the Bells” is characterized by a reflective mood and passionate warmth, evoking a contemplative atmosphere, making it a great solo piece for the holiday season.
The Christmas Song
Performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.
As I previously stated, I wanted to create a playlist with at least a little bit of variety, music that everyone can enjoy, from accessible favorites like The Nutcracker to lesser known pieces by composers we all admire. While I personally don’t listen to free jazz or fusion jazz all the time, I do occasionally enjoy masterful renditions of certain tunes. In particular, “The Christmas Song,” featured in the absolutely iconic animated television special “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” is a delightful piece that I’m happy to include in this list.
This song was originally written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells, but it was first recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946, and, since then, has become a holiday staple. However, in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, this piece is played by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Led by Vince Guaraldi, pianist and composer, who gained fame for his jazz compositions and arrangements, as well as for his work on this particular Christmas special.
Guaraldi’s score for “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is iconic for many reasons, but possibly the most important one is his fresh and sophisticated musical approach to an animated television special. At the time, the use of jazz in a children’s program was absolutely unheard of and made the “Peanuts” special insurmountably timeless.
There’s definitely many more songs on the playlist, 22 more to be exact! From Bach, to Mozart, Liszt, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, and even John Williams, this playlist is guaranteed to put you in that holiday mood!