The Music Workshop Company Blog 

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs. 
 
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To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk 

Posts tagged “CHRISTMAS MUSIC”

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A Trip Down Musical Memory Lane: UK Christmas Number One Hits 1952 - 2020

Posted on 20th December 2020 at 16:07
Did you know that, as of December 2020, Mariah Carey’s ever popular All I Want For Christmas Is You, which was released in 1994, has never topped the UK charts for Christmas, even though it has won critical acclaim and held top spots around the world? 
 
On November 30th, NME suggested that this might be the year! At time of writing, 5 days before Christmas, the song is at Number One in the UK - but will it still be Number One on Christmas Day? 
 
What makes a great seasonal single? Sick of hearing the same few songs every time you walk into a shop? Let’s take a look back over some of the great UK Christmas Number One Hits.  
 
Some of them may surprise you. 
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The Nutcracker

Posted on 17th December 2019 at 10:53
On 18th December 1892, Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker was premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.  
 
Although the ballet is now popular throughout the world, the premiere was not well received, with popularity only coming after Tchaikovsky worked the music into a Suite. 
 
Following the success of Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky was looking for inspiration for his next ballet and a gift of a new Russian translation of E.T.A Hoffmann’s story Nussknacker und Mausekönig gave him a story he could work with.  
 
It has been suggested that his love of the ballet Coppelia by Delibes, premiered in 1870, which was also based on two Hoffmann stories, Der Sandmann (The Sandman) and Die Puppe (The Doll) may have influenced his decision. 
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Christmas Carols: Custom, Controversy and Celebration

Posted on 16th November 2016 at 14:00
Christmas Carols are totally evocative of an old-fashioned holiday season. 
 
Today, they are celebrated in carol services like the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Cambridge, where the story of the Nativity is told with singing and Bible readings. We are familiar with many of the tunes from childhood. But the Christmas carol was not always so acceptable, or even religious. 
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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Posted on 14th November 2014 at 14:30
As Christmas approaches, there’s always a race for the number-one spot in the charts. This year the Music Workshop Company team have been discussing their favourite seasonal music and have come up with their own top songs. Here’s a little bit about each of the team and their Christmas choices. 
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