Something Festive, for a Change

I thought I'd try to find some music that would offset the downbeat tone of the music discussed in my last two posts, something that would also help people get in the mood for the holidays. And I thought it would be nice if I could find something on magnatune so that everyone could stream it for free and listen to it at their computers while they do other things.

I found Handel - Six Organ Concertos. Magnatune seems to have eliminated the voice overs at the end of each piece when you stream their music, a nice improvement.

German by birth, Handel lived in England for most of his life. He worked in the late Baroque period, was a virtuoso organist, and is of course, still widely performed today. Born in 1685, his father made him go to law school (how mean was that?), which he dropped out of to pursue his musical studies as soon as his father died. He studied in Italy for a time, then moved to England in 1712, became a naturalised British subject and remained there for the rest of his life. He never married, was very private about his personal life and did quite well financially, leaving a large estate mostly to charity.

There's something about Handel's music that I always associate with the holidays and festive occasions. His Messiah is the quintessential choral Christmas music, and his Water Music, written to be performed on a barge on the River Thames for a party given by King George the first is wonderful background music for any happy social gathering.

These organ concertos, while not written specifically as sacred music, retain a strong liturgical feel to them, and bring to mind for me the wonder and joy of the holiday that is approaching. They are by turns exuberant and soulful, just like Christmas.

So Listen, enjoy and be uplifted.