Special Today! Bach’s Christmas Oratorio!

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1. ECE Professional says:

   December 25, 2024 at 10:23 pm

   Great choice! My absolute favorite Bach is his Brandenburg Concerto #5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHjbRMIIhuM

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2. ECE Professional says:

   December 25, 2024 at 10:50 pm

   I agree “you can never have too much music” and, since what I shared is not specific to Christmas, I recommend these Anglican Carols: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcDY7SYcB90

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   • ECE Professional says:

     December 25, 2024 at 10:55 pm

     And here’s some more Bach that I recommend for “A Festive Season”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrUDge1Jy_k

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3. ECE Professional says:

   December 25, 2024 at 11:23 pm

   In years past, at this time of year, I enjoyed listening to a lot of different kinds of music, including Medieval, Renaissance & Baroque music, especially for brass, but my record collection was trashed long ago so now I settle for what I can find on YouTube, such as these great pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpeJ0dvtZhI&list=PL4pEFQDv7x8mMPvRFK81i63FqBlWW4Pja

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4. ECE Professional says:

   December 25, 2024 at 11:53 pm

   I used to enjoy listening, during the holidays. to several Nonesuch records I had that were much the collections here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPNSnWqgZgg

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5. ECE Professional says:

   December 25, 2024 at 11:59 pm

   And one last recommendation, from my all time favorite contemporary collection, “December”, by George Winston: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T8MXCXRWbI&pp=ygUXZ2VvcmdlIHdpbnN0b24gZGVjZW1iZXI%3D

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   • dianeravitch says:

     December 26, 2024 at 12:44 am

     ECE,

     Thank you for your wonderful gifts!!

     I will eagerly listen to them all.

     Diane

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 7:13 am

       Thank YOU, Diane! I’m Jewish and I grew up with a Christmas tree in my home, too –until my parents divorced, my mom remarried and my (also Jewish) step-father banned Christmas trees from our home when I was 9. I talked him into letting me hang all the Christmas cards we received in the shape of a tree on the brick wall of our modern fireplace though, which also had a wall to wall ledge you could sit on below, so all the Christmas presents were placed on there –because my mom refused to let him take Christmas away from us entirely.

       We are not alone. Many of the most popular Christmas songs were written by Jews: https://www.kveller.com/11-iconic-christmas-songs-that-were-written-by-jews/ My mom’s brother was in a band with Mel Tormé when they were in high school together, who was also Jewish and he wrote “The Christmas Song” aka “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.”

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 7:41 am

       P.S. No Jews I’ve ever known who had Christmas trees celebrated Christmas as a religious holiday. For them, as with the Jewish Christmas song writers, Christmas is a secular holiday. As my mom used to say, “for us, Christmas is a celebration of loving and giving.” Today, I rent a Jewish owned basement condo & can’t have a Christmas tree, so I decorate and celebrate Festivus (“for the rest of us”) –which came from Seinfeld, though it’s my version of that.

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     • dianeravitch says:

       December 26, 2024 at 10:18 am

       ECE, when my family put up a Christmas tree, it had no religious connotations.

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 11:37 am

       That’s my most common experience as well. Both sets of my biological grandparents had Christmas trees, too, so my parents grew up with them and it was a secular holiday for all of them as well. Our grandparents always gave us Christmas presents and we often spent the holiday with them, including my mom’s parents who retired in FL. I think, if he wanted to, that’s probably why my stepfather couldn’t really ban Christmas for us altogether. (And thank G-d! for that!)

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 2:33 pm

       Diane, Did your family celebrate Hanukkah, too? My mom was the only person in my family who celebrated Hanukkah with us. And it was all 8 days with candles, food and a present every night! (Although the gifts were less expensive than what my mom bought for Christmas, she bought a lot of little stuff that was great fun for kids to get, like my high heels that were just for little girls, so I loved it!)

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     • dianeravitch says:

       December 26, 2024 at 3:26 pm

       ECE,

       Not really. We lit candles. But with eight children and a different gift every night for eight nights, it was daunting. Christmas was easier.

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 4:15 pm

       Oh, wow, Diane! That makes a lot of sense!! We just had 3 kids (and my little (half) brother came along after the first two of us were in our teens), so that was nothing like having to buy 64 Hanukkah gifts all at once for 8 kids! Even the cheap stuff that my mom bought at the area Five and Dime (Woolworth’s) would have been extremely costly then!

       The ultra-Orthodox families in my neighborhood have lots and lots of kids, too, so I’ve often seen them shopping at our nearby Dollar Store, but the local charity has a special Hanukkah fund to help them out. I don’t think anything like that existed when I was growing up though, because after my mom got divorced, she really struggled just to put food on the table. She must have had to save up to still be able to buy Hanukkah tchotchkes for my sister and me. But I can’t imagine having to do that for 8 kids!

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 9:36 pm

       Diane, In birth order from 1 to 8, what number were you? And how many male & female kids were there? Your background is so interesting!

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     • dianeravitch says:

       December 26, 2024 at 10:27 pm

       Five boys, three girls.

       I was number three in line. An older brother and sister. I got to thinking that there were so many interesting things I have lived through that I wrote my memoirs. They will be published in 2025 by Columbia U Press.

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     • ECE Professional says:

       December 26, 2024 at 11:48 pm

       That’s sure to be a very fascinating read, so I look forward to buying a copy!!!

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6. gitapik says:

   December 26, 2024 at 6:50 am

   I’m glad I don’t, but if I HAD to choose one composer, it would be J.S. Bach. And the Christmas Oratorio is wonderful.

   I love his Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin. Here’s a taste. First artist I heard play it, long ago:

   The Cello Suites, too:

   Flute/recorder. People associate Keith Jarret with jazz. He’s also a very accomplished classical player:

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