“Manhattan in December” is featured on Merry Christmas, Darling, Tony-winning actress Stephanie J. Block’s debut holiday album released earlier this year. The record also features tracks with Block’s husband and daughter.
The jazzy number starts out in F and shifts up a half step to Gb at 3:08.
“Christmas Spirit” is featured on Richard Marx’s eponymous 2012 holiday album. Marx co-wrote the song with Fee Waybill, the former lead singer of The Tubes and frequent collaborator with Marx.
The track begins in G and modulates down to E for the first chorus at 0:49. It returns to G for the verse at 1:25 and again moves to E for the chorus at 1:54. A final modulation up a step to F# occurs at 2:56.
Written by Sarah Boyle and Kasper Cornish, “Bring on the 25th” was released as a single in 2020 by English actress and singer Rebecca McKinnis. It modulates from F up to G at 3:20.
This Christmas medley built around “Deck The Halls” was arranged by Karen Tweed (who also plays keys and sax in the video) and performed by the members of two extended families. It begins in F and modulates down to Db at 1:01. After wandering through a few different tonal areas with strains of “Good King Wenceslas” and “Jingle Bells,” we land in D at 2:45 where it stays through to the end.
Thanks to JB for this obscure find!
Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Regina Belle released her first Christmas album, My Colorful Christmas, last month.
Discussing the album’s genesis, Belle said, “This Christmas record, My Colorful Christmas, will be my greatest of Christmas gifts this year and for many years to come. It was always an idea of my brother (Bernard Belle) that we should do one together, and now it’s complete. Two of my daughters are singing (Sydni and Nyla), my son’s on drums (Jayln), one of my brother’s best friends (Ronald Scruggs) and my niece (Janah Belle) are singing backgrounds, and my nephew (Jahmel Belle) is producing and playing drums as well. Bernie, this one’s for you!” Her brother Bernie passed away while the album was being recorded.
Belle’s arrangement of this standard is full of inventive reharmonization in addition its two modulations: from the home key of C up to Db at 0:43, and up another half step to D at 1:26.
MotD mainstay Pentatonix released their sixth holiday album in October, Holidays Around the World. The record is a collaborative effort celebrating songs from different cultures around the world. “Christmas In Our Hearts,” written and originally recorded by Filipino singer/TV host/songwriter Jose Mari Chan, features Filipino singer and actress Lea Salonga. The track modulates up a half step from F to Gb at 2:43.
This is the final track on American country singer Brett Eldredge’s 2021 holiday album Mr. Christmas. Entertaintment Focus critic Pip Ellwood-Hughes wrote that Eldredge is “making a convincing case to be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Bublé and Mariah Carey when it comes to Christmas music” in his review of the album. “Closing track ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ is another standout with Eldredge stripping things back so his voice steals all of the spotlight – and good lord what a voice he has,” Ellwood-Hughes continued.
There is a whole step modulation from F up to G at 2:35.
The Sussex Carol, a popular British tune, is performed here in a jazzy cover by accordionists Karen Sweet & Karen Tweed. It begins with a slow, rubato intro that stretches and embellishes the melody, eventually leading into the tune at 1:16. There is an unexpected downward modulation from G to Eb at 2:04.
Thanks to JB for this contribution!
Surprisingly, this is our first time featuring the classic “Jingle Bell Rock,” originally recorded in 1957 by Bobby Helms. There is some controversy over who wrote the tune; Helms claims that he, not Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe, who are recognized as the composers, deserves credit. Alas, all three are dead now, so we will never know. This cover was performed on the television show Glee, and modulates from D to Eb at 0:57.
Thanks to MotD regular Ziyad for this submission!
The Boys of the Lough, a Scottish/Irish group specializing in Celtic music, released their first album in 1972. “That Night in Bethlehem” is included on their 1996 album, Midwinter Night’s Dream. The vocal verses are set in D minor, separated by instrumental interludes in A minor.
Thanks to MotD contributor JB for this selection.
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