As I've said in the past, it isn't Christmastime until I've heard Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride," preferably over the loudspeakers at a mall.This year, I am happy to report that I found it even before the season officially began, on the night before Thanksgiving. While driving home from work the night before Thanksgiving, I came across it on an oldies station that switches to Xmas music every year. It put me in a good mood after a long, grueling and pointless day, and it probably saved from Black Friday shoppers from being pepper-sprayed.
I've since heard it a second time, on the same station, with lyrics, sung in the familiar rock version by a girl group I can't name. You know the one, with the girls singing "ding-a-ling-a-ling-a-ding-dong-ding" in the background. Not my favorite arrangement, but it counts.
Here is a nice performance with John Williams conducting the Boston Pops:
I am also happy to announce that WGBH Boston will broadcast "A Leroy Anderson Christmas" at 6 p.m. Dec. 3 and noon Dec. 4. Leonard Slatkin will conduct, but you can't have everything.
2 comments:
For me the season starts when the first lights go up in the neighborhood. A neighbor of mine has a tree, a very straight one, in front of her house, and the weekend after Thanksgiving I saw her out stringing lights on it in the day time. I was excited until that evening when she turned them on. The lights ran up the trunk to the lowest branch, maybe twelve feet, then stopped. Up and down the trunk they went making of it a lighted pole and no more. I could say what you said, "Not my favorite arrangement, but it counts," though I would have to add "just barely."
Update: In fairness to my neighbor, I have to add that, since my last comment, she has run the lights out along two branches, to the left and to the right, so that the tree now looks like a "T" with a dent in the middle on top. I guess that's marginally more festive than the truncated flagpole.
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