Rachel Franklin for the Smithsonian Associates: Classical Sounds of Christmas

Popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin revisits this most beloved seasonal repertory, hand-picking additional selections to explore how classical Western composers created a canon of both secular and sacred experiences that are now deeply rooted in our collective seasonal expectations. From sleigh bells and sugarplums to the mystical beauties of the Nativity, every December our senses are filled with the music of Christmas. Some of this music is ancient and folk-based, some grandly Baroque, and more recent masterpieces have evoked images of feasting, bells, snowy Christmas trees, brightly colored candy and jolly red Santas. Enjoy the stories behind works by such composers as Bach, Handel, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Francisco Guerrero, Rimsky-Korsakov, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Humperdinck, William Henry Fry, and many others.

British-born Franklin has been a featured speaker for organizations including the Library of Congress and NPR, exploring intersections among classical and jazz music, film scores, and the fine arts.

December 5  A Christmas Box of Musical Delights

Leopold Mozart, Leroy Anderson, Prokofiev: All take us on jingling sleigh rides, while snowy landscapes by Florence Price and Niels Gade lead to the glittering holiday magic of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve Suite and, of course, Tchaikovsky’s incomparable Nutcracker. Ellington and Strayhorn compose a swinging homage to that most famous Christmas ballet, and as for Santa Claus, William Fry gives him a symphony of his own.