Yup, it's December and time for some holiday music. In this thread, everyone is encouraged to submit a holiday piece (or two, three etc) and start the season off right by sharing your holiday music with everyone.

If you have any self-performed holiday themed piano music that you wish to share with the rest of us, simply reply to this thread and post up your submission.

I will start off by posting up several pieces which are all original re-compositions of traditional holiday scores.(if that exists!). have a listen and enjoy.

.Greensleeves/We three kings medley[/b]
www.pinnaclepeakllamaranch.com/greensleeveswethreekings.mp3

.My favorite things[/b]
www.pinnaclepeakllamaranch.com/myfavoritethings.mp3

.Christmas time is here[/b]
www.pinnaclepeakllamaranch.com/ChristmasTime.mp3

.Jingle bells[/b]
www.pinnaclepeakllamaranch.com/jinglebells.mp3

Nice Hunky, are you still playing your BB?

I started writing this song during last year's holiday recital.


http://www.box.net/shared/to9lss8j5d


Christmas Day Again

It’s Christmas Day and I’m up with the sun
Gotta feed the chickens and let the horses out to run.
Then get the paper and walk down the drive.
It’s so quite I can hear the trucks whine down on i-95.
It’s Christmas day and you would hardly even know.
Except there’s a wreath on our door with a faded scarlet bow.
I go back inside and sit and watch the dawn.
Just one more reminder of old time marching on.

And then my wife comes down in her robe,
and she hugs and holds me up close
she whispers in her sweet kind of way
Hey, It’s Christmas Day.

(bridge)

It’s Christmas Day, the tree’s in it’s spot.
I bought it for 15 dollars from the guy out in the car lot.
He said “Merry Christmas” as he tied it to the rear.
I said “Yea back at ya, and I guess I’ll see you again next year."
It’s Christmas day, our kids have all grown.
They’ve gone off to have families and Christmas of their own.
Their sleds are in the barn, rusting away
And they could care less now if it snows on Christmas day.

And then my wife takes the coffee off the stove
Lets the dog go out to play.
She turns on all the Christmas lights
as she always does on Christmas day

(Bridge)

I sit down by my my wife's side
in this old house where all our memories lay
And together we count
all the happy times we've always had
on Christmas day.

* waiting for my piano to get tuned and for my h2 to be delivered *

I don't know if it's "really nice" or "Holiday music" but it's based on Silent Night at least:
http://www.originalsolopiano.com/2007/11/18/36-silent-night-chill-out/

Hi SH - well, you've nearly got a full CD's worth of stuff there ... and some might fine "stuff" it is too!

Nice work, Peyton ... those of you who can play and sing are special!

Hi Matthijs - more cool sounds from you! You are sounding more and more "at home" at the keyboard.

Here is a little offering...

http://www.box.net/shared/gqd14sc52b

Balladeer

OK, here's mine but first a disclaimer. I don't have the sheet music for this piece, in fact, I don't even own the CD it's on. I heard it a few years ago at a friends house and really liked the melody. When I learned the title, I liked the piece even more since in the CD version George Winston does a left to right fade through the whole piece which evokes the image of you being in your home and minstrels playing while they passed by. I thought that was pretty cool. So, when I saw the holiday thread, I decided to spend a few minutes learning the melody (it's pretty simple) and record it. It's not normalized because that destroys the gradual fade in/fade out pianissimo and I might not play it exactly right (I'm operating on a two year old recollection) but, without any further ado:

Midnight Part Three: Minstrels

Hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas!

SH, I love the way you did the Greensleeves medly especially the beginning. It's really beautiful.

Matthijs, Sounds "nice" to me. That Rhodes sound is very appropriate.

Here's a simple version of one of my favorite carols-
Silent Night

A couple from last years session...
It Must have been the Mistletoe

I attach Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to an email and send out to colleagues just before Christmas

Here's what most people think of when they think of Irving Berlin's White Christmas . It's actually just the chorus.

Ed

"Christmas Waltz" (Jule Styne): www.box.net/shared/26b8visyyi

Ok here's mine, White Christmas, I tried to play my own version.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw5vfBzRc2U

Serge

Great stuff everyone...

Here is a very short Greensleeves from the Alfred book one. Really haven't had time to work on a Christmas piece...

http://www.box.net/shared/oarnmtf7gt

VERY Soon!. Next wed in fact!.

Since our move, I have been playing and recording on the Roland digital.

I am eagerly awaiting my acoustic as we've been separated since April.

To all, great christmas song!!

Here's another one, Silent Night

http://www.box.net/shared/o3ykxi98cr

Serge

Just now getting a chance to listen to some of the submissions. We had a bad snow storm here in northern Arizona last night and knocked out our satelite reception.

Anyway, Peyton[/b], your original x-mas song was really incredible. Your openeing chords gave me goosebumps!. Not bad singing either but it was your super nice chords and melody that did it for me.

Mahzeit[/b], what can I say but groovy!. That was a really kewl twist to x-mas staple.

Balladeer[/b], As always, your performance is perfect. It's going on my holiday music cd to ME !.

Yeah, we got a pretty bad snow storm here too. It started out as snow, then today we got freezing rain! So I decided to stay indoor and record a short X-mas piece.

It's called Greensleeves by the Mannheim Steamroller. It's got a long intro, so the meat & potato of the piece doesn't start till about 2 min in.

http://www.box.net/shared/9nnk1cg9nf

Balladeer- that was so sweet and mellow!

C7- Yea... I can really feel like I'm inside, it's snowing and there go those minstrels. Really nice.

Here's another one... It's from last year as I haven't had the patience to actually learn one this year. I'm only one page into "Angels we have heard on high".... so this is

What Child is This

Very pretty arrangement of this song. Great job!

Char

I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the holiday cheer.

Here's my entry (be warned, it's kinda long...)
Walking in the Air

by Howard Blake, written for the TV adaptation of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, arranged by George Winston. Most of the music came from the new George Winston piano solo book, but the bridge I got from another unreliable source and had to guess a little, so it isn't really faithful to George.

I'm still having trouble setting my Zoom H4 for the proper recording level--I had a better take that recorded too low--this one has a better overall level, but is clipped in a few spots. Sigh. On the other hand, we're having our first snowfall, which is fitting.

Here are the lyrics for anyone who is interested:

We're walking in the air
We're floating in the moonlit sky
The people far below are sleeping as we fly

I'm holding very tight
I'm riding in the midnight blue
I'm finding I can fly so high above with you

Far across the world
The villages go by like trees
The rivers and the hills
The forests and the streams

Children gaze open mouth
Taken by surprise
Nobody down below believes their eyes

We're surfing in the air
We're swimming in the frozen sky
We're drifting over icy
Mountains floating by

Suddenly swooping low on an ocean deep
Arousing of a mighty monster from its sleep

We're walking in the air
We're floating in the midnight sky

Nice Work All. Hope its OK, I made a xmas cd for my morning commute I saw that "the piano guy" did a nice "carol of the bells" show, anyone do that?

Here is an idea for snappy little xmas original. It is unusual in that it is a piano duo (as opposed to a duet). Maybe I'll finish it on xmas day.

http://www.box.net/shared/b3i7sfnolt

Oh such great music! I still haven't gotten through it all thanks to that dratted stomach bug my son gave me, but I have played and enjoyed so far:

1.) Super-hunky's "What child is this/greensleeves". If this is a taste of what the "A super-hunky christmas" album is going to be like, I want a dozen copies. I really liked the high note flourishes you hit a couple of times.

2.) Peyton. When I saw you had a new song posted, I immediately called down to my daughter and we both sat and listened to it. A little slower than your usual fare, but very nice and contemplative. I'm glad you put that last verse in, though, as I was starting to feel a little depressed at the thought of an empty nest at Christmas time.

3.) rustyfingers, GREAT JOB with the Winston piece, especially adding that bridge in. I have what's probably the same unofficial transcription as you do, but that part was way too intimidating for me. You play it like a pro.

4.) Mahlzeit, beautiful jazzy job on "silent night." And much more traditional than your unique "spooky night" (from a year or so ago?), which I still like to play every now and then just for something different.

5.) kawaigirl: I do love the Mannheim Steamroller arrangements, and as usual, expertly played.

My piano is being tuned on the 6th, and I hope to put in some recording time after that. With any luck I'll get something posted before the 25th.

Thanks Monica. I know it's slow but it's supposed to be a bitter sweet Christmas tune. It's not totally autobiographical but...I'm getting there. Only, after four years of my kid in GW University it won't be a house I walk back into...it will be a tent.

There is a post about how to reach performance standards....well.....the way I do it is to set my standards very low in the first place!! :p

You might have heard me play before so you know what to expect!


FROSTY THE SNOWMAN

Thanks everyone for bringing in the holiday spirits. I have been doing Xmas cards and such, so this performance thread has been just the right thing.

I've started to listen--it's getting me in the spirit. Here are a few comments:

Mr. S-H, My Favorite Things is one of my favorite things. We played this at my mom’s memorial service and had some of her things there as well! (She was a collector)

Christmas Time is Here: I used to sing this in an a cappella group. The harmonies are just stunning--I like the Jingle Bells reference at the end!

Peyton: Very poignant—I always get very nostalgic around Christmas. I can see that you do too. Thanks for sharing this very touching song. (another Jingle Bells quote—cool).

Mahlzeit: Silent night—very laid back and mellow--nice.

Balladeer: I’ll Be Home for Christmas—Another nostalgic piece—sounds like something from a 40s piano bar. I like it.

C7—neat song. You must have a great memory. How’d you do that?

Glad you enjoyed it. I seem to have a good memory for melodies, nowhere near on the level of Mozart (who could play a complicated piece from memory years later after only hearing it once) but if a melody catches my attention I generally tend to remember it, even years later.