Wednesday, December 2, 2020 by Mary O'Connor | Christmas

Joy To The World

Joy to the World, the Lord is come !

Let earth receive her King.

Isaac Watts wrote the words to "Joy to the World" in 1719, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The hymn originally glorified Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a song celebrating His first coming. Only the second half of Watts' lyrics are still used today.

The music was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel. The name "Antioch" is generally used for the hymn tune.

As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.

There are versions of Joy to the World available at the O'Connor Music Studio for any level of playing, starting with Pre-Reading, all the way up through Advanced and duets.

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Wednesday, December 2, 2020 by Mary O'Connor | holiday

This fun activity will encourage good practicing skills as students count down the days until Christmas with a Christmas practicing activity each day of December. It includes a variety of activities to practice sight reading, performing, technique, theory and more. Merry Christmas!

Please let me know if you do not want your student to participate in Christmas activities and I will assign alternate activities.

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Tuesday, December 1, 2020 by Mary O'Connor | christmas

I've always liked Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride as a secular Christmas song :)  It's not technically a Christmas song since the words never mention Christmas but it's often played now so it seems like a way to ease into the season.

Anderson had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946;  he finished the work in February 1948.  Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter's day with another person, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950.

The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops Orchestra. The song was a hit record and has become the equivalent of a signature song for the orchestra.

A fun arrangement has been made for piano duet.  I have copies here for loan and it's available on amazon  (of course! What isn't?)

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