Christmas Tiny Tots 2021 E-Guide

CHRISTMAS TINY TOTS

ACTIVITY E-GUIDE

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Learn interesting facts about the music and the composers who wrote it.

FELIZ NAVIDAD Feliz Navidad is 8th on the list of all-time best-selling Christmas/holiday digital singles and is one of the top 25 most played and recorded Christmas songs in the whole world according to ASCAP. It was composed by Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Feliciano. He wrote it when feeling homesick at Christmastime, thinking about the warmth and fun of family being together.

During the Performance: Enjoy this festive start to the concert.

JINGLE BELLS SINGALONG This piece was written by James Pierpont in the 1850s. It is said he was inspired by horse-drawn sleigh races that were a tradition in the town where he lived. It was never intended to be a Christmas song, but slowly became associated with the holiday in the 10-15 years after it was composed. Fun fact: this was the first piece performed in outer space!

During the Performance: Have fun singing along with the orchestra and a singer from Central City Opera.

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS This is an English Christmas tune that was made popular after a 1935 recording but may date originally back to the 1800s. That recording originally said, “I wish you a merry Christmas.” The version our orchestra will perform is based on an arrangement by a composer named Matt Naughton, that combines this classic tune with inspirations from Beethoven's String Quartet no. 4.

During the Performance: Pretend to pick up a violin or other string instrument and play along with the string family during this piece.

YOU'RE A MEAN ONE MR. GRINCH The lyrics for this song were composed by Dr. Suess himself for the original Grinch TV special in 1966.

Even though the Grinch is the main character of the movie, Dr. Seuss wanted to make sure he was as unlikeable as possible, which was why he composed this piece. This song has stayed an important part of the story through every movie remake there has been since it was originally aired.

During the Performance: Listen as a singer from Central City Opera joins us for this piece.

FROSTY THE SNOWMAN SINGALONG Frosty the Snowman was written in 1950, a year after Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer premiered to great success. The songwriters were trying to create another popular Christmas hit and they definitely succeeded. The famous Frosty the Snowman movie was created only after the song had already become a success.

During the Performance: Sing along with the orchestra during this piece.

JINGLE BELL ROCK Jingle Bell Rock was released in 1957 and holds the record for the longest wait to get on the Hot 100 Top 10 song list – it finally made it onto the top 10 in January of 2019. There is some controversy around who composed the song, but the original singer Bobby Helms, says it was him and the guitarist who was on the original recording that are responsible for the song as we know it today.

During the Performance: Turn your body into jingle bells and shimmy and shake along with the music.

ABOUT THE MUSIC SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN The earliest known recording of this song was in 1934 and it became an instant hit, selling hundreds of thousands of copies of sheet music and records in 24 hours. It has been recorded hundreds of times since and has made it onto Billboards Top 10 many times featuring different performers.

During the Performance: Listen to this arrangement featuring the brass instruments of the orchestra and pretend to play your favorite brass instrument.

THE NUTCRACKER

DANCE OF THE MIRLITONS AND DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY

The Nutcracker is one of Tchaikovsky’s most famous works and is based on “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” story by E. T. A. Hoffman. Dance of the Mirlitons is also called Dance of the Reed Flutes.

Listen to the woodwinds play the melody throughout this movement. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy features one ballerina. The original choreographer asked that the music sound like shooting and splashing water droplets. You'll hear this in the sounds of the celeste (or celesta) that joins during this piece. (We don't have a real celeste instrument - it will be played on the keyboard. Listen to a real celeste here.)

During the Performance: Watch as dancers join us during Dance of the Mirlitons or Sugar Plum Fairy.

THE CHRISTMAS SONG This song was actually written on a blistering hot summer day. Robert Wells started listing out wintery things to help him get into the mood to write a Christmas song and those became the opening lyrics. It was first recorded by Nat King Cole and his jazz trio, then orchestrated to include string instruments, and then re-orchestrated again by the esteemed arranger, bandleader, and composer Nelson Riddle for full orchestra.

During the Performance: Our guest from Central City Opera will join us again for this piece.

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER This song was inspired by the story of Rudolph that was actually written by the composer Johnny Marks' brother. Gene Autry recorded the song in 1949 and it became #1 on the pop music charts in 1950. Gene Autry's version peaked again on the charts rising to #16 in January of 2019.

During the Performance: Our guest from Central City Opera will join us again for this piece - put on your Rudolph nose and sing along.

SLEIGH RIDE Though it's one of the most famous orchestra holiday songs, Leroy Anderson actually started writing this piece in a sunny, hot July! Anderson originally composed the music for orchestra only and lyrics weren't added until a couple years after its original composition. According to ASCAP, Sleigh Ride consistently ranks as one of the top 10 most-performed songs written by ASCAP members and they named it the most popular piece of Christmas music in the U.S. in 2009–2012, based on performance data from over 2,500 radio stations.

During the Performance: Hop onto your sleighs and pretend to ride off through the snow.

PLAYLISTS

Listen to a variety of Christmas music playlists.

Christmas 2021 Tiny Tots

Christmas Brass

Jazzy Christmas

Christmas Around the World

Christmas Lullabies

ACTIVITIES AND GAMES

Get hands on with at-home music activities featuring different instruments of the orchestra.

During the performance, children will be invited to pretend to play their favorite string instrument. Bring this pretend play to life at home with this viola coloring page. Print it on cardstock (or glue regular printer paper to cardboard), cut it out, and let your little ones color it to create their very own viola.

Dance of the Mirlitons from The Nutcracker is also known as Dance of the Reed Flutes. On woodwind instruments, it is the vibration of the reed as air blows over it that makes its sound. Some instruments, like the clarinet, have single reeds and some instruments, like the oboe and bassoon, have double reeds. A double reed is two pieces of thinly shaved wood that are tied together. Watch the video to make your own double reed straw instrument at home.

Horns of all types (French horns, cornucopias, drinking horns, etc.) are a common symbol of the Christmas season and represent various aspects of the holiday depending on your beliefs. Have your little one(s) make their own holiday horn using these coloring pages. Color the horn on page one and then color and cut-out the festive decorations on page two. Glue them on to the horn and hang them around your house.

Jingle bells, officially known as sleigh bells in the orchestra, are one of the most commonly used percussion instruments in holiday music. Sleighs have had bells on them for centuries, and the first known instance of them being used in orchestra music was by Mozart in the late 1700s. You'll hear sleigh bells during the song Sleigh Ride in the concert - play sleigh bells yourself along with this piece at home with our online sleigh bell player.

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