Around this time of year you begin to hear it, the distinct sound of holiday music. This could be the vocal chords of traditional Christmas carols, or the warmth of a secular, jazzy holiday song, but it’s there.
Why does holiday music have such a distinct sound? Hundreds of years of tradition have brought us new music every year and the best of it sticks around for years to come. The new music is absolutely influenced by the holiday songs of the past, in its instruments, tonality, and spirit.
The Allan Hancock College Concert Band’s co-director Gary Thompson will lead much of the ensemble’s free Christmas Concert with Greg Stoll on Dec. 2. The concert features well-known holiday music set to the concert band’s configuration, including several medleys and a sing-along.
Though the band doesn’t have any “silver bells” in the ensemble, there are other instruments that can elicit that holiday feeling, Thompson said.
“We have one piece that starts off with chimes,” he said. “We also have flutes for flute solos, oboe solos, trumpet solos, and we have a big drum section that keeps us in rhythm.”
Composers across the centuries have used powerful brass melodies and rousing percussion to bring the colorful holiday season to our ears. A lot of this tradition goes back to the Baroque period, when many well-known composers like Handel and Bach composed Christmas oratorios for the church.
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society celebrates that era of music making with its Holiday Baroque concert on Dec. 2. The program includes works penned for the holidays by Bach, Handel, Corelli, and Marcello, explained maestro Michael Nowak, who said that all four composers were great composers of their time.
“It just has a joyous sound to it,” Nowak said. “I like this music in general because it just has a good feeling about it, a sense of depth, but they’re not hard to understand. All the feelings are right there on the sleeve, and it’s so listenable.”
Another sound that is distinctly indicative of the holidays is the sound of a choir. So many carols mention choirs, usually composed of angels, and the classics are often set in the traditional choral format.
The Lompoc Valley Master Chorale’s director Kathleen Abrams Hacker knows well the choir’s place in the holiday tradition, which is why she always schedules a concert for her ensemble this time of year. The chorale’s concert, The Spirit of Christmas, will be performed both Dec. 2 and 3, and includes some music dating all the way back to the late 1500s, Hacker said.
“That’s what the holidays are all about really, it’s tradition,” she said. “I think that old music gives us a deeper meaning in the season, when we do something traditional.”
Hancock’s concert band
The Allan Hancock College Concert Band presents the annual Christmas Concert on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 2970 Santa Maria Way, Santa Maria. Free. More info: hancockcollege.edu.
Masterful voices
The Lompoc Valley Master Chorale presents The Spirit of Christmas directed by Kathleen Abrams Hacker on Dec. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 925 North F St., Lompoc. Cost is $20, $5 for students. More info: 588-7204.
Holiday Baroque
The Santa Maria Philharmonic Society presents the concert Holiday Baroque directed by Michael Nowak on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 311 S. Broadway, Santa Maria. Cost is $35. More info: 925-0412 or santamariaphilharmonic.org.
Ready to pop
The Lompoc Pops Orchestra presents a concert of holiday music on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 925 North F St., Lompoc. Cost is $20. More info: 735-6463.
Jazzy Christmas
The Allan Hancock College Jazz Band presents its annual winter concert on Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Unity Chapel of Light, 1165 Stubblefield Road, Orcutt. Free. More info: 925-0552 or heybill@charter.net.
Arts Editor Joe Payne loves musical tradition, no matter how aged. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-8, 2016.