Alfred Burt is most recognized for writing many Christmas carols that we love and sing today. He was born in Marquette Michigan on April 22, 1920. Early in his childhood he moved to Pontiac Michigan after his father became pastor of a church. From an early age he had shown an interest in music, and began practicing on a cornet when he received it as a gift from his parents. Soon enough he began to explore playing other instruments such as the piano and trumpet. With his musical skills, he was able to join many different bands and orchestras that had a jazz influence. He went to college at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to study music, where he graduated in 1942 with a bachelor degree.
Alfred's Christmas Carols came from a tradition that his father started when he became pastor of his church in Pontiac, Michigan. His father would send family members and parishioners Christmas cards with the music and words from carols he had written. In 1942, Alfred was asked by his father to write the music for that year's carol, "Christmas Cometh Caroling." From this point on, Alfred continued the tradition of writing the music for each years Christmas cards.
Alfred was sent to San Angelo, Texas where he served as an office in the United States Army. This however, did not postpone his music career. He was still able to join in the Army Air Force Band and in addition was able to join the Houston Symphony playing the trumpet. He was also able to carry on the Christmas Carol tradition by completing the music for the cards from his base. When Alfred was discharged from the army in 1946, he resumed is his career in New York where he was a teacher and composer. Sadly, in 1948 his father died of a heart attack, and Alfred chose ...
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...imited, Gas House Gang, and John Williams. In 2001, the tradition of the Christmas cards and carols was reintroduced by Burt's grandniece, Abbie Betinis. Each holiday season she introduces the new carol on Minnesota Public Radio for everyone to enjoy.
The Alfred Burt Christmas Carols
1."Christmas Cometh Caroling" (1942)
2."Jesu Parvule" (1943)
3."What Are the Signs" (1944)
4."Ah, Bleak and Chill the Wintry Wind" (1945)
5."All on A Christmas Morning" (1946)
6."Nigh Bethlehem" (1947)
7."Christ in the Stranger's Guise" (1948)
8."Sleep Baby Mine" (1949)
9."This Is Christmas" (also known as "Bright, Bright, the Holly Berries") (1950)
10."Some Children See Him" (1951)
11."Come, Dear Children" (1952)
12."O, Hearken Ye" (1953)
13."Caroling Caroling" (1954)
14."We'll Dress the House" (1954)
15."The Star Carol" (1954)
Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Burt
Leroy Anderson was born June 29, 1908 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His parents, as children, immigrated to the United States from Sweden with their families. His father, Bror Anton Anderson, worked as a postal clerk in the Central Square post office. He also played the mandolin. Anna Margareta Anderson, his mother, was the organist at the Swedish church in Cambridge. He lived in the suburbs of Boston for twenty seven years with his parents and brother.
Music was very important to the family and his early music lessons were given by his aunt Sophy, who was his mothers sister. He wrote his first piano piece when he was six, called The Robin’s Nest . Ralph and his siblings would play duets together and all were good students. It soon came time for Ralph to go to school so he followed his brother Hervey to preparatory school at Rottingdean near Brighton in 1883. He liked the music teachers there very much and was introduced to J.S. Bach. He learned the violin and soon became good enough to know Raff's Cavatina by heart. In 1887 Ralph became a student at Charterhouse school near Godalming in Surrey where he remained until 1890, he was fourteen at the time. Here he organized concerts and wanted to pursue Viola but his family disagreed and chose the organ for him instead.
Scrooge was always mean to everyone. They did not like him. He was visited by three ghosts that taught him a lesson. He started being nice. “Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all. . . He was a second father. . . [to Tiny Tim] His own heart laughed.” (Dickens 64). Doing nice things for people can make people happier too. The Grinch, as well as Scrooge, hates Christmas and he expresses it. The Whos hate him for it. He takes the presents of all the Whos, he is about to throw it off the mountain. The Grinch hears a sound. It is them. They are singing, despite the fact their Christmas is ruined. He returned all their gifts and celebrates Christmas with them. He is finally loved by the Whos. Doing nice things for people can make a person happy as well. Although, Scrooge was helped by spirits, The Grinch was held by people. Recent books can be seen using traditional story’s themes.
In 1966, while heading up the animation division at MGM Studios, Jones directed one of the most memorable holiday television specials ever produced, “Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” First aired on Sunday, December 18, 1966, the half-hour special was met with glowing reviews from newspapers across the country and has since become one of the most beloved holiday programs on television.
Christmas was originally supposed to be a celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Modern historians suggest that Christ was actually born sometime in April, but that is hardly the point; the point is that a day on which to celebrate his birth and life was needed, and so one was chosen. During the season surrounding this holiday -- especially since it coincided with that of other, similar holidays -- it was thought right to honor Jesus by acting as he did, i.e., in a kind, generous, and forgiving manner. Out of this sprung the custom of giving gifts to loved ones on this holiday.
A Christmas Carol is jubilant spiritual hymns to celebrate the birth of Christ which is sang by a group of people friends, family and anybody who wants to.
In the Novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is an old man who despises Christmas with all of his frigid heart. Three spirits come to his aid to have an intervention about his hatred for Christmas, and will try to change him into a merry man. In the Novella A Christmas Carol of the three spirits the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the most influential. The other two ghosts have an impact but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the final nail in the coffin of Scrooge’s austere heart.
Bach and Ives came from families with musical backgrounds. According to the text book Listen, Bach’s family, was one of the largest throughout a region of Thuringia with numerous musicians for many generations. (127). As for Ives, his father was a Civil War bandmaster
Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol because he believed that he can have an influence on the situation in England in the 19th century(Bio). He included the character’s greed and want that are a part of Scrooge during his visits with the Ghosts of Christmas.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky lived from May 7, 1840 to November 6, 1893. He attended school to be a lawyer, but later chose to devote his life to music. He is one of the well known Romantic Era composers. Some of his most characteristic compositions include: Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker Suite.
A Christmas Carol is a popular book that has many different productions including multiple movies, the original book, a comic written by Marvel, and plays. A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dicken and published December 19, 1843. There is a popular scene where a spirit takes Scrooge (Scrooge is the main character in the book) to a graveyard to show him his grave as punishment for not participating in christmas. In every production of the story this scene has similar and different ways of telling the story. There are two particular ones that I want to compare and these include The Christmas Carol animated film from 2009 and the Muppets a Christmas Carol from 1992.
A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens in 1843. Life for the lower class during this time was extremely hard because of enormous amounts of illnesses, young children worked and no education. A Christmas Carol was set in mid 19th century, during this time people had a really bad time; most of the people was unemployed and the people who were employed were paid deficiently, others were seasonal or casual, which meant they were when work was available so most of the families lived in poverty which means that they didn’t have access to nice food and clothes and children were also used for the family income so the children had to work in work houses. In contrast the rich people had access to doctors, plenty of food and didn’t have to work, had nice clothes to wear and had a nice life. Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol to highlight the plisht of the poor.
Adolphe Adam was a famous romantic era composer who was born on July 24, 1803 in Paris, France. He died on May 3, 1856 in his sleep. He became involved in music through his father, Jean-Louis Adam, a skilled concert pianist and a Professor of Pianoforte at the Conservatoire de Paris. This is the same school that Adolphe Adam would later be enrolled in to study the organ and harmonium, although his father disapproved of it. Over the years Adam learned to play the organ, piano, timpani, and harmonium.
began singing along to them with me. These holiday songs are only another example to
He was the second of eight children. His mother had been in service to Lord Crew, and his father worked as a clerk in the Naval Pay office. Charles spent time outdoors, but also read voraciously, including the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding among other authors. He read and reread The Arabian Night and the Collected Farces of Elizabeth Inchbald. The first novel that he wrote was The Pickwick in 1836. In 1843, Dickens published one of his most famous works, A Christmas Carol. Dickens was the most popular novelist of his time and remains one of the best-known and most-read of English