A Christmas Festival

Sunday, November 27, 2022

And it’s still only November!

Keith played a rehearsal with the Lake Wobegon Brass Band tonight. Of course, I went along. They have three Christmas concerts next weekend and we are already busy, so we can’t go to any of them. I was looking forward to hearing festive Christmas music. Mid-way through the rehearsal they played Leroy Anderson’s A Christmas Festival, which is my most favorite holiday song (arrangement? compilation? It’s a bunch of carols arranged into a single tune).

My introduction to A Christmas Festival came in high school. After our fall concert, our band director pulled out some Christmas music for us to play in December before we dove into music for our next concert. One of the pieces was A Christmas Festival. Back in 1980, high school bands played a lot of good band literature, but not a lot of “songs”. I was very excited to play songs I knew. Midway through A Christmas Festival the flutes have this part that was really challenging to me. The arrangement is slow and pretty through Silent Night, then kicks it up for Jingle Bells. THEN comes the hard part – doot doodle doot doot doot doodle doot doot! So many notes, so many accidentals! I actually took the music home and practiced. And practiced. And practiced until I could totally play it (that may have been the first time I did that). I just loved it.

During Christmas break, possibly actually on Christmas day, I was listening to Christmas radio and an instrumental piece came on. I wasn’t focusing on it until I suddenly realized I was humming along. I ran and got the sheet music and followed along for the remainder of the tune. A Christmas Festival was on the radio!! I LITERALLY did not know a song you played in band could be on the radio. I was thrilled.

Fast forward several years to college time. Keith played the solo trumpet part in Jingle Bells and I was at that concert – about a month before we officially met. When we talked about it the next holiday season, I told him how hard the flute part is and he said trumpets have the same part there. What? No. Flutes were definitely doing the heavy lifting right there. He played the part for me. Crap. Same part. And he just played it, without music.

It was always the part I listened to when I heard it every December. Flutes and trumpets.

Flash way forward. We were listening to Boston Pops play and as the section of flute (and trumpet) greatness neared, Alexander (the trombone player) said, “Wait for it. Here comes the great trombone part.” I just looked at him and said nothing. There are DEFINITELY not trombones playing doot doodle doot doot. Just as the flutes take off, he says, “Listen!” Lo and behold (or low, because trombones), the trombones have the melody of Oh, Come All Ye Faithful there. The flutes and trumpets are (obviously) not playing the melody and in ALL THE TIMES I listened to that song, I never once noticed that there was an actual recognizable song going on. And it was being played by the trombones.

In the fall of Alexander’s senior year, he mentioned something about the band director telling the seniors that they could request music – either just to play through or maybe for concert material. I wrote to Mr. Comeau and told him about my fondness for A Christmas Festival and said he pulled out that music, I could come to listen to a rehearsal so I could hear Alexander play it once. When we saw him at a fall band event, he said he would look for it and see what he could do. I then forgot about it, because that is the way I am.

At the December band concert, Mr. Comeau said he’d gotten a terrific letter from a parent telling him about her own high school band experience and that the Woodbury High School band was proud to dedicate their next piece to her. I started crying as soon as he started talking. When Alexander (and probably the other trombone players) roared into Oh, Come All Ye Faithful I never heard a single note the flute (or the trumpets) played. I still never do. I tear up every time the trombones start to play, and they are truly the tears of joy.

Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without. –Confucious