The Fine Art of Listening

Winter is here! There’s nothing like waking up, breathing crisp, fresh air, and seeing a field of diamonds out your window.

Antonio Vivaldi wrote 500 concertos, though musicians will say that he actually wrote the same concerto 500 times. Most of these concertos are given really interesting titles – for example, “Violin Concerto in D” or “Violin Concerto in E” or maybe even “Violin Concerto in F.” In a sea of compositions with very similar names, four of his concertos stand out above the rest (not surprisingly) because they bear a title that suggests something extra-musical. The Four Seasons (having nothing to do with Franki Valli) are four Baroque concertos that musically capture the spirit of the respective times of year – Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. This sort of use of extra-musical influences is known as Program Music, and is commonplace nowadays. If a composer today wrote a piece called “A Cold Winter’s Day” or “The Ice Storm”, we wouldn’t think twice about it; in fact, we would probably begin making assumptions as to how the piece would sound, built on the musical ideas handed down through generations of wintery composers. But in 1720, for Vivaldi to write a Concerto that captures the spirit of winter AND to title it “Winter” was out of the ordinary.

In this concerto, Vivaldi paints winter by beginning in a minor mode with static, unchanging harmony (a dead, dreary landscape), then building into fast scales (blowing wind). Later, we hear a sweet song sung by a warm fireplace, before having to walk back out into the bitter cold.

If your holiday traditions include Christmas presents, consider this a warning – you’ve only got a few more days to get your shopping done! Don’t delay; the traffic only gets worse and you’re more likely to make a bad decision if you shop at the last minute.

Here’s the March of the Toys to get you moving. It began as part of an operetta by Victor Herbert, which was later adapted into a Disney film. The music has been a staple for the holidays ever since! It might provide the inspiration you need to find those last few presents.

And, if you’re going to have a holiday piece stuck in your head while you shop, it may as well be this one.

Christmas Carols are interesting. In an attempt to keep things as simple as possible, I’ll categorize them into three groups: purely sacred carols, somewhat sacred carols, and secular carols.

It’s easy to identify purely sacred carols like “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” because they actually refer to the Christmas story and have Biblical references. Likewise, secular carols are easy to identity – they tend to be about a general holiday feeling of warmth and love, or mention Santa Claus.

Then there’s that “somewhat sacred” group. “The Holly and the Ivy” is a song about plants, and the only association with religion is that the words make rhymes about Mary. “King Jesus hath a Garden” is also about vegetation, with metaphorical associations to Christ-like virtues. Then there’s the “Cherry Tree Carol” (again about a plant), a totally non-Biblical story which barely has a religious message at all. Some argue that these originated long ago from Pagan solstice celebrations and were adopted and changed into Christian music.

These “somewhat sacred” carols are still sung today in churches, but you’d never hear them at the mall. They mention sacred things, but their theology isn’t exactly rock-solid. Not too long ago, they were considered completely secular, and would never have been sung in a church.

Anyway, today’s piece is a gorgeous German somewhat-sacred carol. And yes, plant life is mentioned.

Mary wandered through a thorny wood, Lord, have mercy,
which was leafless for seven years – Jesus and Mary.

What did Mary carry by her heart? Lord, have mercy.
A little baby without pain – Jesus and Mary.