Hank Reynolds 
Kent, I’ll Be Home for Christmas First recorded in 1943 by Bing Crosby, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” expressed the desire of U.S. Soldiers in World War II to be back home. The song’s enormous popularity soon took it well beyond that original context, and … Read more
Warlock, Bethlehem Down Peter Warlock is the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine (1894-1930). Heseltine was born in London to a wealthy family. His father soon died and his mother was remarried to a landowner in Wales. Heseltine’s Welsh roots would form part of his lifelong … Read more
Scarlatti, Cantata Pastorale per la nascità di nostro Signore The Scarlatti family from Sicily included quite a few successful musicians. Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) was the second of eight children born to Pietro and Eleanora, five of whom had musical careers. Alessandro would sire ten children, … Read more
Bach, Das Orgelbüchlein (6 Advent and Christmas Chorale Preludes) J. S. Bach composed a more or less unbroken stream of music for organ and harpsichord throughout his professional life. But his time in Weimar, from 1708 to 1717, marks a particularly fruitful period for organ … Read more
Debussy, Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maisons Claude Debussy composed Noël des enfants qui n’ont plus de maison in December 1915 as the second Christmas during World War I was approaching. Debussy had cancer by this time and was composing very little. He … Read more
Tartini, Devil’s Trill Sonata Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) is best known for his Sonata No. in G minor (GT 2.g05), known informally as the “Devil’s Trill” sonata. The trill in question occurs in the final movement (at 9:44-10:00 in this recording) in which Tartini demands double-stop … Read more
Gurney, In Flanders Last week we featured a work by George Butterworth, a young English composer who was killed in action in World War I. Today, we look at Ivor Gurney (1890-1937), another English composer and contemporary of Butterworth. Gurney saw combat in World War … Read more
Butterworth, The Lads in Their Hundreds George Butterworth (1885-1916) was one of several the English composers who in the early 20th century collected folk songs and worked them into his compositions. We have already looked at his contemporaries Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Frank Bridge, … Read more
Cowell, The Banshee I don’t pay much attention to Halloween, but once I decided to feature this work, it seemed appropriate to save it until we could get all of our ghosts and goblins dealt with at the same time. A mythical creature “banshee” comes … Read more
Kosma, Autumn Leaves (Les Feuilles mortes) Fall has arrived for most of the country, including here in North Carolina and almost surely in Paris, so we might as well celebrate with one of the most popular songs in the repertoire. Autumn Leaves was composed by … Read more
