If laughter is the best medicine, then I’d like to think
music is a close second. Not having the
opportunity to study music as a child, I discovered around the age of 18 that I
actually play music by ear, which is a blessing and a curse. I must confess that my love for music,
specifically playing the piano, borders on problematic. Most days if I’m running behind I can blame
it on the irresistible gravitational pull of that glorious black and white
keyed beast that lives in our living room.
When the evening workout is skipped, again the piano is impugned. If the jazz bars would have me and I could
pay the bills, I’m afraid medicine might become my hobby.
Listening to music is equally appealing. Mozart helps the infant brain grow and the
college student score higher in math.
Whether it’s Beatles or Stones, Rock or Country, Jazz or Classical,
music can lift the spirit, infuse the soul and send us flying. Have you ever seen someone singing in the
car, smiling, oblivious to the hubbub around them? Or, how about after your first breakup, when
somehow every song on the radio seemed perplexingly written just for you.
The Christmas season brings with it some of our favorite
music, and to my wife’s delight, my children and I start practicing around
September. Not that we need the practice,
but it’s a good excuse to cover up our sentiment. The classics, so jazzy and light, so
uplifting and spiritual – aaah, there’s a reason they are classics. Being a music buff, I’d like to share some
little known history of a few Holiday favorites.
Austrian Catholic priest Joseph Mohr penned one of the most
beloved and well-known songs, ‘Silent Night’, in 1818. The church pipe organ had broken and Franz
Gruber hastily composed the music for a tenor, a bass and two guitars. That same night it was heard for the first
time at Midnight Mass. The song quickly
became a favorite around Austria, then the world, and it was the 1850s before
the anonymous composers knew of its success.
“Gloria in Excelsis Deo” was called from peak to peak on
Christmas Eve by shepherds in the south of France, announcing the birth of
Christ. The song, “Angels We Have Heard
on High” was first published in a carol collection that dates 1855.
“Joy to the World”, penned in 1719 by English hymnist and
cleric Isaac Watts was based on Psalm 98 in the Old Testament. The “Carol of the Bells” was originally a Ukrainian
folk song intended to be sung a-capella, celebrating the joyous bounty of the
season.
“Adeste Fideles” was written in France around 1750 by
British exile John Francis Wade, and a century later British clergyman
Frederick Oakeley turned out the English version, “O Come, All Ye
Faithful”. He translated the song
because he felt if congregations had good literary texts to sing, they would
sing well.
Modern day composers, such as Johny Marks who wrote “Rockin’
Around the Christmas Tree”, “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer”, provided the songs for legendary singers like Nat King
Cole and Bing Crosby, who made the Christmas songs into classics. Judy Garland made “Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas” famous in the 1944 film Meet Me in St Louis. Gene Autry wrote “Here Comes Santa Claus” and
his singing made “Frosty the Snowman” a huge hit in 1951.
Even the great geniuses of American musical theater, Rodgers
and Hammerstein, gave us some great Christmas tunes with “My Favorite Things”,
from the 1959 Sound of Music. In the
stage version, Maria sings a duet with her Mother Superior in the covenant,
listing the many things in her life she could not give up as a nun – whiskers
on kittens, brown paper packages tied up with string….
When it comes to Christmas recordings, here are some of our family
favorites: A Very Special Acoustic Christmas
by assorted artists, My Kind of Christmas by Christina Aguliera, Go Tell it on
the Mountain by The Blind Boys of Alabama, When My Heart Finds Christmas by
Harry Connick, Jr, Yule B’ Swingin’ by assorted artists, and of course the timeless
classic of all classics, The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole.
George Frideric Handel composed the oratorio, “Messiah” in
1741, and the “Hallelujah” chorus is perhaps one of the most celebrated works
of the Christmas season. There is a
story told about this chorus... that Handel's assistant walked in to Handel's
room after shouting to him for several minutes with no response. The assistant reportedly found him in tears,
and when asked what was wrong, Handel held up the score to this movement and
said, "I thought I saw the face of God."
My prescription for the holiday season is to ‘eat, drink,
and be merry’ – eat rich but healthy, drink in moderation, and merrily enjoy
the simple beauty of the songs that celebrate the reason for the season.
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Bio
Scott Rollins, MD, is Board Certified with the American
Board of Family Practice and the American Board of Anti-Aging and Regenerative
Medicine. He specializes in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement for men and
women, thyroid and adrenal disorders, fibromyalgia, weight loss and other
complex medical conditions. He is
founder and medical director of the Integrative Medicine Center of Western
Colorado (www.imcwc.com). Call 245-6911 for an appointment or more
information.
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