Best known for his winter-themed Sleigh Ride, composer Leroy Anderson had a special affinity for the holiday season. As he once described,
My parents were born in Sweden, so at Christmas time we would have the traditional Swedish foods on Christmas Eve....for dinner we would have the Hoghead's cheese and the pickled herring, and the pickled beets and various kinds of sausage and other things you usually find on a smorgasbord. Then, of course, the rice pudding for dessert, and in the rice pudding they always put an almond and whoever gets the almond, you see, is supposed to have good luck during the next year; of course, it always happens that the youngest child happens to get the almond, they'd arrange it that way.
In 1955, Anderson penned a Suite of Carols for a Christmas recording by the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler, including “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella," "Away in a Manger," and "Wassail Song." The very first in the suite is “Pastores a Belén” (Shepherds in Bethlehem), a traditional carol possibly dating from 17th-century Spain evoking the joy of the shepherds as they come upon the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Dancing and lyrical, Anderson’s orchestration captures the scene perfectly.
—Jennifer More, ©2024
