I live in Austria and one week before Christmas the resident orchestra performs one of Haydn's late masses and I think they are kind of christmas-ey It is such a lovely tradition merry christmas and thanks for the video!
Prokofiev's 'Troika' from the Lt Kije suite always used to be a bit of Christmas favourite too. Serge knew how to craft a damned memorable tune. Merry Christmas!
Boring yaketty yak? Luckily that person is out to lunch, and here you are, sharing fascinating new-to-me pieces! And Loki looks adorable in his bow tie 😊
Thanks, Music Professor, your insights are always great for an amateur choral singer. We are rehearsing Taverner's The Lamb now. It was written for 3 year old Simon, who I take to be his son, which somehow makes those unexpected harmonies, dropping in out of nowhere, all the more poignant. Special hi to Ian, you're doing a great job!
Merry Christmas everyone. My favorite "classical" Christmas piece is relatively recent. Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium. Its an absolutely beautiful choral work. I do love Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols and Hodie too. I sang A Ceremony of Carols in college. It really is special. Mel Torme was only 20 years old when he wrote A Christmas Song. By far, my favorite Christmas song of all time. Whenever I hear Em9 to Ebm9, I know it's christmas time.
Thank you for your recommendations. All varied. I love your open minded attitude to music. There are too many close minded attitudes in music right now
One of my recent tutorials was on Christmas music. We went through all the Christmas number ones since 1960!! Following that we had to compose a piece of Christmas music containing all the "elements" that make a Christmas hit!!!!
Just to clarify your point about the Nutcracker overture: the first 33 bars are given to the treble instruments only (with the violas as the “bass”) but then the bassoons join in, followed by the two horns after another 35 bars. But you are quite correct that the lower strings (cellos, basses) do bot join in until the first scene.
What a great channel! I could listen to you yak all day! every heard the Hely-Hutchinson Carol Symphony? opens like a cantata with each phrase of "O Come All Ye Faithful" being blasted out by the horns every eight bars or so while al kinds of dazzling counterpoint is going on in between. Marvelous piece! I think old Victor died one winter after getting too cold because he didn't pay his heating bill or something...ironic, really.
I think the most stunning Christmas song except for perhaps "Silent night" which is a kind of lullaby, is Adolph Adam's "Holy Night" - the same Adolph Adam who wrote ballets like" Giselle" and some operas. With the proviso that it be sung by classically trained singers who can cope with that sublime and ineffable high note at the end! I have a digitally engineered recording of the Welsh boy soprano Aled Jones singing a duet of it -of himself as a tenor adult with himself as a boy soprano! The effect is overwhelming especially when he hits that high note towards the end.
You didn't tell the story of Bethlehem Down! Warlock and the journalist Bruce Blunt got together and slapped it together in 1927 to enter it in a seasonal music competition sponsored by the Daily Telegraph. The song won first prize, and Warlock and Blunt took the proceeds and got "roaring drunk". Such a marvelous juxtaposition that a sublime little micro-masterpiece had a pub crawl as its raison d'etre. Separately, my understanding is that the composer of the Chestnuts song, Mel Torme (The Velvet Fog himself), made an absolute fortune off of it. By far the biggest hit of anything he did. It's a lovely song, yes, but it has kinda been performed to death. To the endless gratitude of Torme's estate.
Just uploaded my first Christmas themed piece also so it’s perfect timing. In a lucrative way it’s quite an investment, for Christmas songs come on once a year which brings consistent revenue whilst being scarce enough to not become “old” and overly repetitive generally. I think every composer should test themselves with a general “festive” style piece whether Christmas themed or not. These pieces showed amazing ways one can go about it, brilliant showcase. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.
One of my favourite Christmas songs is composed by Jean Sibelius. He composed 5 Christmas songs, and my favourite is number 4 "En etsi valtaa loistoa". It's a simple yet beautiful song of praying for peace to all the world and wishing a happy Christmas time for everybody -- poor and rich equally. Fun fact: at the Sibelius residence, this song was always played by the composer's wife Aino Sibelius. The maestro wanted to play all the other songs himself :)
Right of you to include the Britten, really one of the masterpieces of his oeuvre. I would love to hear your thoughts on the harmonic progression of "That Yonge Child..." And I'd never hear the Bartok at all! Many thanks.
Lovely selection! Thanks, Matthew! For carols, The Shepherds' Farewell, Bethlehem Down, The Lamb, and Britten's Ceremony are always on my Christmas playlist. Right up there too for me are Herbert Howells' 'Sing Lullaby' and 'A Spotless Rose'. Not to forget some more modern gems: Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium', Whitacre 'Lux Aurumque', James Macmillan 'O Radiant Dawn' and Will Todd 'My LordHas Come'. Have you written a festive piece? Merry Christmas to you and family!
What I love most about this is when you play something pretty complex by ear. I also appreciate the range of material from high-brow to popular songs. Fantastic stuff
OMG my favourite channel "Utterly Boring Yacky Yack" posted a new video i am gonna enjoy every second of it. MErry christmas, Also if i may add a valueble suggestion " Quatre motet pour le temp de Noel" are some wonderfullChristmas Themed Choral Composition by Francis Pouelnc
Merry Christmas to you and loki, this video illuminated my Christmas spirits that for some reason hadn’t really kicked in yet. Thanks for that. And lovely piano playing.
You’re right to highlight the importance of the 1940s. That’s when commercial Christmas music first took off. Before then, composers such as Ketèlbey relied on traditional songs as the basis for their Christmas novelties. For instance, his Christmas Medley Foxtrot merely adds a new rhythm to tunes that Scrooge would have known. Before then, the most quirky seasonal piece I can think of is Wolf’s setting of Goethe’s poem Epiphanias.
Thank you very much for the new pieces. I can confidently state that in the competition for ugliest Christmas sweater of 2024, you're certainly through to the knock-out stage. I only know Warlock's Capriole Suite; thanks for a new one. I thought Early Modern music wasn't averse to the odd bit of spicy harmony? But I don't know. Have a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to more videos from Loki the Canine Ventriloquist.
Do we imbue our Christmas music with nostalgia though recollection? Or do our (more popular) composers choose chords and keys that evoke said nostalgia? Is this the "chicken - egg" question of Christmas music? 😉 Have a very Merry (Happy) Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year! My 2024 will be remembered fondly for finding this channel and I look forward to next year's output.
I'm always totally blown away how you can play songs on the piano off the top of your head just like that, and moreover such non-trivial arrangements! Is that just years of practice, or do you also have perfect pitch?
Silly to mention things that you didn't but here goes: Warlock, the First Mercy; Finzi, Dies Natalis; Wagner, Sigfried Idyll (Richard's Crissy Prezzie to Cosima); and always presented at all good Aussie Christmas concerts: Australian Christmas Carols by William James, Director of Music for the ABC in the 1950's.
Ah yes: Siegfried Idyll - wonderful! My favourite Aussie composer is Percy Grainger and his 'Sussex Mummer's Carol' is lovely: ruclips.net/video/La1kgKi0Xog/видео.htmlsi=QAwZZUX5sXgKlsTc
This is a bit out of the blue, but when I first discovered it (I was 15), Bach's organ Pastoral in F, BWV 590, struck me immediately as very "Christmas-y". Ever since then - way back before music went online - I've always had it in my Christmas rotation. Merry Christmas to all, and happy holidays.🎄
As far as marketing goes, how about this slogan for the channel this week: "Why have a low-key Christmas this year when you can have a Loki Christmas instead?"
My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He never mentioned singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"--but absence of evidence does not necessarily prove absence of fact. Too bad I never heard that claim before--it's too late to ask him about it now. As for Christmas songs by the likes of the Beatles--well, it's pretty hard to take seriously Christmas songs by people who not only fail to make even a pretense of being Christian, but who are even occasionally openly hostile to Christianity. Pretty much every new Christmas song in the popular idiom in the last 50+ years is nothing more than a blatant cash grab.
This channel isn’t utterly boring, it’s utterly marvellous. Can’t wait to hear more in 2025.
I live in Austria and one week before Christmas the resident orchestra performs one of Haydn's late masses and I think they are kind of christmas-ey
It is such a lovely tradition
merry christmas and thanks for the video!
Prokofiev's 'Troika' from the Lt Kije suite always used to be a bit of Christmas favourite too. Serge knew how to craft a damned memorable tune. Merry Christmas!
I absolutely adore these analysis videos. I'm a music student and these are just perfect. Thank you so much!! Merry christmas 🎉
Merry Christmas!
Boring yaketty yak? Luckily that person is out to lunch, and here you are, sharing fascinating new-to-me pieces! And Loki looks adorable in his bow tie 😊
Thanks, Music Professor, your insights are always great for an amateur choral singer. We are rehearsing Taverner's The Lamb now. It was written for 3 year old Simon, who I take to be his son, which somehow makes those unexpected harmonies, dropping in out of nowhere, all the more poignant.
Special hi to Ian, you're doing a great job!
9:00 Re the Warlock, even the noteheads in the Telegraph article look Elizabethan (? reminded me of a page I saw from Byrd).
Seasons greetings to you and Loki.
Merry Xmas to you and Loki 🎄🎅🥂
Merry Christmas everyone. My favorite "classical" Christmas piece is relatively recent. Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium. Its an absolutely beautiful choral work. I do love Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols and Hodie too.
I sang A Ceremony of Carols in college. It really is special.
Mel Torme was only 20 years old when he wrote A Christmas Song. By far, my favorite Christmas song of all time. Whenever I hear Em9 to Ebm9, I know it's christmas time.
All fine pieces. RVW's Hodie is a very interesting late piece of his - doesn't get played enough.
Thank you for your recommendations. All varied. I love your open minded attitude to music. There are too many close minded attitudes in music right now
Thank you for this, especially reminding me about l’Enfance du Christ. I didn’t know that about how it came to written.
Thanks for your videos! Your analysis and passion for music is incredible and I love the manner in which you teach. Happy holidays!
Thank you so much!
One of my recent tutorials was on Christmas music. We went through all the Christmas number ones since 1960!! Following that we had to compose a piece of Christmas music containing all the "elements" that make a Christmas hit!!!!
Britten, Warlock, Bartok, Messiaen...
You've got me hooked!
Just to clarify your point about the Nutcracker overture: the first 33 bars are given to the treble instruments only (with the violas as the “bass”) but then the bassoons join in, followed by the two horns after another 35 bars. But you are quite correct that the lower strings (cellos, basses) do bot join in until the first scene.
What a great channel! I could listen to you yak all day! every heard the Hely-Hutchinson Carol Symphony? opens like a cantata with each phrase of "O Come All Ye Faithful" being blasted out by the horns every eight bars or so while al kinds of dazzling counterpoint is going on in between. Marvelous piece! I think old Victor died one winter after getting too cold because he didn't pay his heating bill or something...ironic, really.
I think the most stunning Christmas song except for perhaps "Silent night" which is a kind of lullaby, is Adolph Adam's "Holy Night" - the same Adolph Adam who wrote ballets like" Giselle" and some operas. With the proviso that it be sung by classically trained singers who can cope with that sublime and ineffable high note at the end! I have a digitally engineered recording of the Welsh boy soprano Aled Jones singing a duet of it -of himself as a tenor adult with himself as a boy soprano! The effect is overwhelming especially when he hits that high note towards the end.
Yes. It's a strikingly operatic piece for a Christmas carol but yes it can be a knockout!
Happy Christmas!!
Merry Christmas! Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker was first performed on 18th December 1892! Please keep up the great musical work! ❤❤❤❤
You didn't tell the story of Bethlehem Down! Warlock and the journalist Bruce Blunt got together and slapped it together in 1927 to enter it in a seasonal music competition sponsored by the Daily Telegraph. The song won first prize, and Warlock and Blunt took the proceeds and got "roaring drunk". Such a marvelous juxtaposition that a sublime little micro-masterpiece had a pub crawl as its raison d'etre.
Separately, my understanding is that the composer of the Chestnuts song, Mel Torme (The Velvet Fog himself), made an absolute fortune off of it. By far the biggest hit of anything he did. It's a lovely song, yes, but it has kinda been performed to death. To the endless gratitude of Torme's estate.
I love this channel! I’ve learned so much here. I say, yak on! Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for another year of fascinating and enjoyable videos. I look forward to more next year.
Just uploaded my first Christmas themed piece also so it’s perfect timing.
In a lucrative way it’s quite an investment, for Christmas songs come on once a year which brings consistent revenue whilst being scarce enough to not become “old” and overly repetitive generally.
I think every composer should test themselves with a general “festive” style piece whether Christmas themed or not.
These pieces showed amazing ways one can go about it, brilliant showcase.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas.
One of my favourite Christmas songs is composed by Jean Sibelius. He composed 5 Christmas songs, and my favourite is number 4 "En etsi valtaa loistoa". It's a simple yet beautiful song of praying for peace to all the world and wishing a happy Christmas time for everybody -- poor and rich equally.
Fun fact: at the Sibelius residence, this song was always played by the composer's wife Aino Sibelius. The maestro wanted to play all the other songs himself :)
Like the Bethlehem star, your talk shines and is wondrous. Great performances too!
Thank you so much!
Love the channel, not boring at all. Be interesting to have a chat over a cup of tea 🍵
Merry Christmas!
Right of you to include the Britten, really one of the masterpieces of his oeuvre. I would love to hear your thoughts on the harmonic progression of "That Yonge Child..." And I'd never hear the Bartok at all! Many thanks.
Lovely selection! Thanks, Matthew! For carols, The Shepherds' Farewell, Bethlehem Down, The Lamb, and Britten's Ceremony are always on my Christmas playlist. Right up there too for me are Herbert Howells' 'Sing Lullaby' and 'A Spotless Rose'. Not to forget some more modern gems: Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium', Whitacre 'Lux Aurumque', James Macmillan 'O Radiant Dawn' and Will Todd 'My LordHas Come'. Have you written a festive piece? Merry Christmas to you and family!
Thank you. Great collection. Actually, yes I've written a few Christmas things. Perhaps I'll play something on the channel, perhaps next year.
This was an absolute delight!
What I love most about this is when you play something pretty complex by ear. I also appreciate the range of material from high-brow to popular songs. Fantastic stuff
Thank you!
OMG my favourite channel "Utterly Boring Yacky Yack" posted a new video i am gonna enjoy every second of it. MErry christmas, Also if i may add a valueble suggestion " Quatre motet pour le temp de Noel" are some wonderfullChristmas Themed Choral Composition by Francis Pouelnc
Merry Christmas to you and loki, this video illuminated my Christmas spirits that for some reason hadn’t really kicked in yet. Thanks for that. And lovely piano playing.
You’re right to highlight the importance of the 1940s. That’s when commercial Christmas music first took off. Before then, composers such as Ketèlbey relied on traditional songs as the basis for their Christmas novelties. For instance, his Christmas Medley Foxtrot merely adds a new rhythm to tunes that Scrooge would have known. Before then, the most quirky seasonal piece I can think of is Wolf’s setting of Goethe’s poem Epiphanias.
Thank you very much for the new pieces. I can confidently state that in the competition for ugliest Christmas sweater of 2024, you're certainly through to the knock-out stage.
I only know Warlock's Capriole Suite; thanks for a new one. I thought Early Modern music wasn't averse to the odd bit of spicy harmony? But I don't know.
Have a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to more videos from Loki the Canine Ventriloquist.
Merry Christmas! I will listen to Liszt's Christus (The first part) and play the two piano transcription Liszt arranged.
Feliz Navidad is my favourite christmas song!!!! I also love Vingt Regards!!!
i guess i could make a playlist since you've kindly provided links. not counting Cinderella as Christmas music tho
Do we imbue our Christmas music with nostalgia though recollection? Or do our (more popular) composers choose chords and keys that evoke said nostalgia? Is this the "chicken - egg" question of Christmas music? 😉
Have a very Merry (Happy) Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year! My 2024 will be remembered fondly for finding this channel and I look forward to next year's output.
Thank you. Yes, composers tend to choose harmonic progressions etc. that have a particular emotional impact.
I'm always totally blown away how you can play songs on the piano off the top of your head just like that, and moreover such non-trivial arrangements! Is that just years of practice, or do you also have perfect pitch?
Yes, I think it's a skill that I developed as a youngster. I'm aware that it's slightly unusual.
@@themusicprofessor Yes, I think so 🤭. Thank you very much ❤
does Prokofiev's Troika count? Greg Lake thought so!
Yes!
Absolutely !
Merry Christmas
7:00
Thanks for a great year! See you in 2025!
Silly to mention things that you didn't but here goes: Warlock, the First Mercy; Finzi, Dies Natalis; Wagner, Sigfried Idyll (Richard's Crissy Prezzie to Cosima); and always presented at all good Aussie Christmas concerts: Australian Christmas Carols by William James, Director of Music for the ABC in the 1950's.
Ah yes: Siegfried Idyll - wonderful! My favourite Aussie composer is Percy Grainger and his 'Sussex Mummer's Carol' is lovely: ruclips.net/video/La1kgKi0Xog/видео.htmlsi=QAwZZUX5sXgKlsTc
This is a bit out of the blue, but when I first discovered it (I was 15), Bach's organ Pastoral in F, BWV 590, struck me immediately as very "Christmas-y". Ever since then - way back before music went online - I've always had it in my Christmas rotation. Merry Christmas to all, and happy holidays.🎄
The Pastoral in F is beautiful and I believe it is connected to the shepherds in Luke's gospel. Merry Christmas!
Hi, the link for Nat King Cole's the Christmas Song is missing, you may want to add it😊
Cheers. Yes, I put in the wrong link. It's corrected now.
As far as marketing goes, how about this slogan for the channel this week: "Why have a low-key Christmas this year when you can have a Loki Christmas instead?"
Wow - the AI generated effects in this one - budget must have been doubled 🤩
Professor, you are anything but boring. Please keep up the grand work.
Bach's Christmas Oratorio!
I love it. I wanted to talk about the opening chorus but it's very hard to bring off on the piano!
My father fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He never mentioned singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"--but absence of evidence does not necessarily prove absence of fact. Too bad I never heard that claim before--it's too late to ask him about it now.
As for Christmas songs by the likes of the Beatles--well, it's pretty hard to take seriously Christmas songs by people who not only fail to make even a pretense of being Christian, but who are even occasionally openly hostile to Christianity. Pretty much every new Christmas song in the popular idiom in the last 50+ years is nothing more than a blatant cash grab.