Today's piece has been a favorite for carolers, church hymns and the media ever since it's publication. I'm talking about "Joy to the World," by G. F. Handel... or, did he write it? Truth be told, there is some mystery about who actually composed this. There are some scholars who believed that a certain bars is very similar to what Handel used in his Messiah. However, others would think that it might have been a group effort. But regardless of who exactly wrote it, many of us can agree that it

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Day 5: 1582. Finishing up the Renaissance with a carol that not only withstood the test of time, but at the time it was as popular as jingle bells.

Yeah, yeah, I know what some of you are thinking: “Inkwell, out of all the carols that you’ve been putting out this month, you’re posting the one from Home Alone 2?” Now before you jump the gun on this, hear me out. Believe it or not, I was actually introduced the the squeal first before the original. Heck, by the time this movie came out, it’ll be about a year before I was even born. And besides, I grew up with the movie as a kid and I didn’t see the first one until years later.

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Two incredible things happened in this particular year. The first is that as World War One was raging on, soldiers on both sides decided to have a truce for Christmas in order to not just bury their dead, but to celebrate the holiday. That alone I think is a strong testament in which the message of "Peace on Earth. Good will towards men," was that powerful to bring a war to a halt. As for the other, this was the year in which a carol was published. One in that it wasn't meant to be one. If

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To my Readers and fellow Music Lovers,

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Some context for the following song: in England, Christmas was celebrated in a completely different way that would be near unrecognizable to us. Around this time for example, it was the equivalent of taking Mardi Gras and Halloween, throw both of them in the snowy December, add plenty of alcohol, some drunken mobs and that was Christmas in a nutshell. If anything, since the Medieval ages, the poor held up a practice in which they would go to the front door of some wealthy person to basically

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Chances are, many of you are probably aware of the operetta, "Babes in Toyland" by Victor Herbert. This age of fairy tales is unique as only a couple of years earlier, "The Wizard of Oz" was published. This story and it's music has been adapted for both stage and on film over the years, and even my introduction to it was from the Disney film from the 60's. And out of everything that I've seen, there was one piece that stood out to me to the point where I personally couldn't think of Christmas

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Now there's some debate about this particular carol. Especially about when exactly this tune was written. Some would say that it was jotted up around the 1940's while others say that it is as late as 1955. But regardless, the thing that this carol stands out among the others was the author. Her name, was Katherine K. Davis, a forgotten composer who has only this carol in which people remember. If anything, this carol was stolen and was up on the radio. Fortunately, her credit was restored, and

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So some days ago I asked all ACC readers to go and vote for what they liked best in the RCL 2nd anniversary contest. Turns out what you guys liked best was A Canterlot Carol. Wow. Uh... Thank you. I ended up winning to my lasting, possibly permanent, shock and against truly stupendous competition, too.

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Today is going to be a very short trip into the Classical era. In which I'm presenting to you a piece of music that has been forgotten. I'm talking about the Sleigh Ride piece by Mozart. No, not Wolfgang, but his father Leopold.

Today's choice continues on into the Renaissance, in which I'm sharing a Spanish carol that still remains to be popular to this day.

Well it's about time I got around to Tchaikovsky. Yes, today's choice is probably the only classical thing to still go on the radio. And for good reason, the famous Nutcracker Suite (based on the ballet) is still what most people think completes Christmas. While the original source material didn't do quite so well when it was first performed, the music and its story has became a staple of this time of year. But just to focus on the suite, I know there's a million different recordings of it, but

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Today I'm presenting a tune by an unknown French author in the original way that it was meant to be sang. To the French, this is called "Les Anges dans nos Campagnes." The tune however, is known in its English translation: "Angles we have Heard on High."

Today is another beautiful carol in which I bring to you the original French.

Going from the beginning of the first world war to a year after the second, it is safe to say that this song is probably the most famous and even the most played carol to come out of the 20th century. Especially with the singer, Nat King Cole, that if there's anything of his legacy that he's being remembered, it would be this very tune. He sang this on TV in 1961, but the way he sang it is considered by many the most perfect version of this song out there. So without further adue ladies and

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Today's choice also comes out of the forties in which this is brought to you by the Boston Pops Orchestra.

Holy shit this game is fun!

I found the Purrloin! I had to look in up in the Pokédex cause the encounter rate was so low, but I knew it had to be close by since three different trainers around the area had one. I named it AMETHYST, after my real cat. Plus it's purple. It knows a move called Assist which is a really fun move.

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Now that we've moved into the nineteenth century, I'm sharing a piece of music that, if it weren't for Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven or Strauss jr, this would be considered as the most famous melody to ever come out from Austria. One so popular that in the twentieth and twenty-first century, whenever any artist comes out with a Christmas album, this song is almost guaranteed to be on there. Today, of course, I'm talking about Stille Nacht - Silent Night.

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To end off the fifties, I'm sharing with you a song that is like a unique time capsule of the period. One that is both a product of the times with its signature guitar to the singer - and yet, somehow is timeless that we still play it every December.

Today's carol comes from the Great White North. This is Canada's oldest christmas song, Huron Carol, as performed by the Five Fifths.

The carol was written circa 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary to the Hurons in Ontario, Canada. Using the indigenous cultural imagery, Jean translated the nativity story into Wendat.

Jump to other days:

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