December 6, 2022 - O'Connor Piano Studio

Christmas Countdown: Carol of the Bells

December 6, 2022

| Christmas, Composers, Holiday

Carol of the Bells was composed by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych (1877-1921) in 1916. Originally titled Shchedryk, this Ukrainian folk song is sometimes called Ukrainian Bell Carol. “Shchedryk” which was associated with the coming New Year, originally celebrated in April. Leontovych used this tune in 1904 along with lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky to create the […]

🎇 New Year’s Eve!
1929 ~ Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians played Auld Lang Syne as a New Year’s Eve song for the first time. Auld Lang Syne had been the band’s theme song long before 1929. However, this night was the start of a New Year’s Eve tradition as Lombardo’s famed orchestra played at the Hotel Roosevelt […]
🍝 National Spaghetti Day
National Spaghetti Day on January 4 recognizes that long, thin cylindrical pasta of Italian and Sicilian origin.
🎂 Happy Birthday, Victor Borge!
Victor Borge made his debut as a pianist in 1926, and as a revue actor in 1933. From 1940 until his death in 2000 he worked in the USA for radio, television, and theatre, and has performed with leading symphony orchestras on worldwide tours since 1956. He was best known for his comedy sketches combining […]
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣ 3️⃣ Happy 2023
New Year’s Day is observed on January 1, and is probably the most celebrated public holiday, often observed with fireworks at the stroke of midnight as the new year starts in each time zone.
🎄 Christmas Music: Composers by the Numbers
🎁 Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their masters, employers or customers, in the United Kingdom,The Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, Bermuda, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and other former British […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Hallelujah Chorus
Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Psalms. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Have a Merry, Musical Christmas!
Find MrsO in the video!
🎄 Christmas Countdown: O Holy Night
“O Holy Night” (“Cantique de Noël”) is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem “Minuit, chrétiens” (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).
🎄 The Most Educational Christmas Carol Ever ~ “Intervals Roasting”
Music theory has never sounded so catchy with this witty remake of the holiday classic The Christmas Song (with apologies to Mel Torme) Try not to laugh at the ending. Though it is a bit humorous, this version titled ‘Intervals Roasting’, with lyrics by David Rakowski, attempts to encapsulate the fundamentals of music theory in […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown:Adeste Fideles
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” (originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles) is a Christmas carol which has been attributed to various authors, including John Francis Wade (1711–1786), John Reading (1645–1692) and King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656), with the earliest manuscript of the hymn bearing his name, located in the library of the Ducal […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Gesù Bambino
Gesù Bambino by Pietro Yon has always had a place in my childhood memories since my church choir sang it every Christmas. Other than that, it didn’t seem to be too well known but this song has been turning up in piano books lately. There are now several versions in the O’Connor Music Studio if […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker
Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. Major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent […]
🎄 Christmas Countdown: Johnny Marks
Who? You might say. Johnny Marks (November 10, 1909 – September 3, 1985) was an American songwriter. Although he was Jewish, he specialized in Christmas songs and wrote many holiday standards, including “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”…
🕎 Happy Hanukkah!
Hanukkah 2021 began in the evening of Sunday, November 28 and ends in the evening of Monday, December 6

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