Holidays:

[Tom47]

 

I like holidays, particularly the ones that come during the colder and darker months, from Halloween to Easter, but I am also interested in the holidays that I did not grow up with.  This evening is the start of Hanukkah.  While there is a lot of Christmas music I hear almost no Hanukkah music on the radio or TV, so a number of years ago I started to look for Hanukkah music and here is some of what I found.  Ner Li - Chanukah Song with lyrics 2 minutes, Hanukkah Lovin' by Michelle Citrin, 4 minutes hannukah music piano music 32 minutes.

Other holidays that I did not grow up with that I now find interesting are Diwali - Festival of Lights (see here for 3 minute video, Diwali - Festival of Lights | National Geographic), Eid Al Adha Festival of Sacrifice (3 minute video, Eid Al Adha: What you need to know), Kwanzaa (3 minute video, QuaverMusic Song of the Month: Kwanzaa Celebration), Chinese Lunar New Year (5 minute video, Chinese New Year 2023 | What is the Chinese New Year? | How to Celebrate it? & Story of Nian).  

Thinking about this it seems that the Nutcracker ballet could be made to be about any holiday simply by changing which holiday the party is for and not changing anything else.

Tom, 

[Helene]

 I heard part of Stewart Goodyear's piano version of The Nutcracker yesterday, and it was amazing.  I bought the full album as a download and it is a joy.

This is the info page from Steinway & Sons, which published the album.

https://www.steinway.com/music-and-artists/label/tchaikovsky-nutcracker-stewart-goodyear

[Tom47]

Helene, thank you for your comment and link.  I listened to the previews and liked ii, but noticed he played the tunes faster than I am used to.

One thing that interests me about the various holidays is the similarities among them.  They are not the same, there are variations, but there are also similarities.  Starting with, they tend to be joyous celebrations.  Many are connected with music, songs as well as food, meals together dance and also gift giving.  They’re a time for people to get together.

Another holiday that I did not grow up with, but that is interesting to me is American Native Heritage day.  See here for a 3 minute video: Native American Heritage Day for Kids | Native American Heritage Month | 25 November | Twinkl USA,

Kindly contribute any holiday you know and any Hanukkah music you know.

Tom,

[FPF]

Chag Chanukah sameach to all who celebrate. 

The reason there is not much Chanukah music is that it's actually a minor and low-key holiday celebrated by a very small proportion of the population. 

I love that Michelle Citrin song--I think you also posted it last year? I posted this one previously: 

 

Sadly, Sharon Jones died of cancer less than a year after this performance.

This is a concert of fairly traditional Chanukah music (with some other Jewish music mixed in): 

More modern:

 

Just found this one tonight, apparently the big Chanukah hit of 2020:

Another oldie:

 

[Tom47]

FPF, you make a good point as to why there is not much Chanukah music, so I’m grateful that you posted these links.  I’ve added them to a playlist of Chanukah music.  It’s not Chanukah music, but here is a video of Barbra Streisand singing Avinu Malkeinu (4 minutes): Barbra Streisand - AVINU MALKEINU ( Our Father Our King).  Over time I have come to feel that I prefer songs in languages other than English and to prefer female vocalists.  Here is a long video, one hour, entitled My Yiddishe Chanukah with vocalists Joanne Borts and Rachel Arielle Yucht:  My Yiddishe Chanukah!.  Then I have to include Hava Nagila and a circle dance (4 minutes, you may have to turn up the volume for this): Hava Nagila - circle dance (Berry Sisters).

Tom,

[Quiggin]

 

Fun piano store Nutcracker:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CloQO_psYyX/

[Tom47]

Quiggin, thank you for the link. It is a fun piano store Nutcracker. 

Today is the last day of Hunakkah and the first day of Kwanzaa.  The name Kwanzaa comes from the Swahili phrase “matunda ya kwanza” which means “first fruits.”  Here are two Kwanzaa songs:  Happy Happy Kwanzaa, 6 minutes and Child of Kwanzaa Practice Track, 3 minutes.  Nguzo saba means the seven principles of Kwanzaa which are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).  Kwanzaa ends on January 1st.  

Tom,

[Tom47]

There is a Ukraine holiday celebrated on January 22 called Unity Day.  It celebrates the treaty, signed on that day in 1919, uniting the Ukrainian People’s Republic, which had been part of the Tsarist Russian Empire with the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic, which had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Both empires ended as a result of the First World War and the Russian Revolution.  This did not last long as the united Ukraine was soon absorbed by the Soviet Union.  See here  Why Ukraine celebrates Unity Day(1 minute video). 

Here is a 5 ½ minute video of the Ukrainian Hopak dance: Ukrainian dance Hopak by Sonechko (Zhytomyr, Ukraine) (229) and next is a 13 minute long video of Ukrainian National Folk Dances:Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble | ансамбль ім. П. Вірського | Best of (2022) 

According to this website (https://danceask.net/tropak-dance-ukraine) “It was during the beginning of the 16th century that a social dance called ‘Hopak’ was first created in Ukraine by a community known as ‘Cossacks’. It was then using Hopak as template that this dance style was created which was called ‘Tropak’.  Furthermore, the only major difference between the Tropak and Hopak dance styles lie in the tempo of the music that was used.”  Based on this it may be more accurate for the Russian Dance from the Nutcracker ballet, also called the Tropak, to be referred to as the Ukrainian Dance.  Here is a 2 minute video of that dance being called the Ukrainian Trepak The Nutcracker - Ukrainian Trepak (Delaware Ballet - 12/4/2016).  It is my understanding that Trepak and Tropak are two spellings for the same dance.

Also connected with Ukraine is the music for the song Hava Nagila.  The music originated as a wordless melody performed by Jews from the small town of Sadigorer in present-day Ukraine approximately 200 years ago.  The music was brought to Jerusalim during the First World War during which the lyrics were added.  The Translation of the words “Hava Nagila” is “Let us rejoice.”  See here: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hava-nagilas-long-strange-trip//

During this holiday season I heard many Christmas songs on the radio and a good number of winter songs, but I only heard one Hanukkah song and that was Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukkah Song.”  Now, I like Adam Sandler, but as I have grown to dislike male vocalists, mainly because so many songs are sung by male vocalists, I looked for female covers of that song.  Here at Ms. Magazine can be found the Haim Sisters singing such a cover: https://msmagazine.com/2022/12/16/feminist-holiday-songs/, go down to song 5.  Another interesting cover is “The Diwali Song” here: The Diwali Song for the Festival of Lights in India. 

Tom,

[Tom47]

Chinese Lunar New Year begins tomorrow on January 22 and can last until February 5.  This begins the year of the Rabbit.

Tom,

PS I just read that in Vietnam they are beginning the year of the Cat.