Greensleeves: a brief history Believed to be composed in the late 16th/early 17th century, ‘Greensleeves’ never began it’s many incarnations as a Christmas song. It was only until William Chatterton Dix wrote the carol What Child Is This (set to the Greensleeves tune) in 1865 — […]

The First Noel The First Noel is a traditional Christmas carol that is generally believed to have originated in Cornwall, a region in southwestern England with a rich Celtic heritage. The carol’s Cornish roots are evident in its name, “Noel,” which is derived from the […]

Edelweiss Edelweiss is a 1959 piece from the musical, The Sound of Music. It is named after the edelweiss, a white flower found high in the Alps. The song was written for the Broadway production of The Sound of Music, for the character, Captain Georg […]

O come, O come, Emmanuel “O come, O come, Emmanuel” is a seasonal Christian hymn (and carol). The text was originally written in Latin (Veni, veni, Emmanuel) and the hymn has its origins over 1,200 years ago when monasteries would sing the “O antiphons” in […]

Into the Unknown Into the Unknown is a quirky Americana piece by multi-instrumentalist composer, Mark Orton. This piece is played at the end of Alexander Payne’s film The Holdovers (starring Paul Giamatti). Mark Orton is most famous for composing ‘Their Pie’ the theme to Payne’s […]

Silent Night Silent Night originated in Austria in 1818. It was written as a poem, “Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!”, by Joseph Mohr, a young priest in the town of Oberndorf. The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, a schoolteacher and organist in the nearby […]

Coventry Carol is a Christmas EP that I’ve long wanted to release. It’s a short collection of 5 songs. All are my own arrangements, and two of them are written by me: The Holly in the Windy Hedge and Ode to the Season. I’ve been […]

Fantastic Beasts The Fantastic Beasts movies — as with the Harry Potter predecessors — seem to be set in winter more often then not. For that reason, I think of the films, and the music by James Newton Howard, as seasonal. To me, it only […]

Harry in Winter The fourth installment in the Harry Potter series, Goblet of Fire, marked a significant shift in tone and theme. Composer Patrick Doyle took over from John Williams, bringing a fresh, Celtic-infused soundscape. The standout piece is Harry in Winter, a haunting and […]

Coventry Carol The “Coventry Carol” is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century. Loreena McKennitt’s version is my favorite and you can find my arrangement of her performance here. I love the sound of voices forming one single chord. My inspiration was various […]

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen is an English traditional Christmas carol — also known as Tidings of Comfort and Joy. It is one of the oldest carols, dating back to the 16th century. I was inspired by Loreena McKennitt’s ethereal […]

A Christmas Carol (2019) “What was the purpose of our gross accumulation?” – Jacob Marley A Christmas Carol (2019) is a British miniseries (starring Guy Pearce) based on the 1843 novella of the same name by Charles Dickens. It aired on FX in the United […]