Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Music and SCROOGE


After leaving church on Sunday, I turned on the radio and the song that I heard rhymed "Jesus was born" with "Santa Claus and popcorn".  Oh well, from the sublime to the ridiculous!  For me, some of the Christmas music is just horrible to listen to with even the simplest of songs with trills and runs.  Right now I like to listen to the music from the Nutcracker Suite and the music from a Charlie Brown Christmas. That really is the perfect music for Advent, not really Christmas , so you can't have the carols yet!  The music from Charlie Brown, how new and different was that in the 60's!  It was like a breath of fresh air and I still love it after all these years.  I never tire of the music from the Nutcracker.  I have seen it in Atlanta several times, but it isn't necessary for me to see the ballet to enjoy the music.

Everyone has favorite Christmas movies that they like to see and there are some really good ones.  ("It's A Wonderful Life" is one of my absolute FAVORITES with such great acting.  I think I may know that one by heart!)  In the early 70's, I saw that the movie "Scrooge " was coming on TV and I asked my Dad if he would sit and watch it with me.   I do believe that it is the ONLY time I have ever watched an entire movie with him.  He watched every minute of it and after it was over and I asked him if he liked it, he looked at me with his arms folded and said this one word:  "GOOD".  It was so funny, but he said it with such conviction, he didn't have to really say anything else.  That's my Dad!




It really is a great movie.  The music is by Leslie Bricusse and that sounds like a French name, doesn't it?  Wrong!  He is from England!   The music and dancing really complement the story by Charles Dickens. When we were in Eastbourne, I was thrilled to see a house across the street from the Lamb that showed Charles Dickens had visited there.  Of course he would have visited there, it was across the street from a great pub! That's Charles Dickens for you!

The carolers in the photo are made from toilet rolls (or bog rolls in England!) and the middle one was made by my son when he was about seven years old.  I made the other two myself last year just to keep that other one company. Isn't it funny that the middle one is the best one?  That's my boy!

                               "Scrooge"  =  "Good".

4 comments:

  1. Tchaikovsky was brilliant, wasn't he! And so many people after him drew on what he had done. Listen to George Gerswhin for a while, for instance, and you'll know what I mean. Steve and I loved his music, and we loved the ballet. Sadly, we never got round to go to a performance of the "Nutcracker" together, but we both hugely enjoyed "Swan Lake", and the music from the Nutcracker would often be played at home. Now that you mention it, I don't think I have listened to it yet since he died, and I am not sure it would be possible without tears.
    As for movies - I do not have a favourite Christmas movie, because I generally am not too much into movies. But when I was a kid and later as a teenager, still living at home, they would always run the same film on telly around Christmas, "Drei Nüsse für Aschenbrödel", a tchecoslovakian production of a Cinderella story, with the most beautiful actress playing Cinderella. The music, the scenery, the costumes - everything about that film was so great, we all loved it and must have watched it together a dozen times.

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  2. Hello Kay:
    The Carol Singers are absolutely splendid. We love them for they look so colourful and so very cheerful wrapped up warmly against the cold of winter.

    And although we do not really have a favourite Christmas film, we should agree that 'It's a Wonderful Life' takes a great deal of beating.

    Happily, after a great many problems with our Google Reader, your posts are once more appearing as they should!

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  3. Librarian,
    I love Tchaikovsky! When my sister was 3 years old and I was 13, we went to see the Disney film, "Sleeping Beauty". Being a sophisticated teenager by then (or so I thought!), I thought I would just be company for my little sister.
    I loved the movie but I especially loved the MUSIC! It was years later that I discovered that it was by the same man who composed the music for the Nutcracker Suite! Hey! What can I say, I have always had good taste! :-)

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  4. Jane and Lance,
    Glad you like our bundled up Carolers!
    Happy too that you have your problem with Google reader sorted out. Like Meike, I just tried to remember to look at your blog since it didn't come up on my dashboard.
    Hope you enjoy everything this holiday season, all that gives you joy! :-)

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