The Night Before Christmas

Philip Lane
The Night Before Christmas

Nigel Hess
A Christmas Overture

Prokofiev
Lieutenant Kijé Suite: Troika

Tchaikovsky
The Nutcracker Suite: Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy; Dance of the Mirlitons; Trepak

Rimsky-Korsakov
The Snow Maiden: Dance Of The Tumblers

Adam Saunders
Fairytale Sleighride

Alan Silvestri, arr. Brubaker
The Polar Express: Concert Suite

Leroy Anderson
Sleigh Ride

Elin Llwyd presenter
Grant Llewellyn conductor

The Night Before Christmas Philip Lane
Some stories are so timeless that they appeal to everyone, no matter how young or old. The Night Before Christmas is a poem written in the early 19th century by an American called Clement Clarke Moore. In it he conveys the excitement of the wait for Christmas Day, everyone in the house asleep as Santa Claus and his reindeers pay a visit. The poem has been updated for modern lives by Carol Ann Duffy (and translated into Welsh by Ceri Wyn Jones): in her version there’s a child creeping downstairs to check whether Santa Claus is real. Composer Philip Lane brilliantly brings to life the drama and joy of this tale.

A Christmas Overture Nigel Hess 
A Christmas Overture reminds us what Christmas is all about. A sequence of traditional carols weave their way through the orchestra – how many can you pick out?

Lieutenant Kijé Suite: Troika Prokofiev
In 1934 Prokofiev wrote music to accompany a film about an imaginary army officer, Lieutenant Kijé, who was invented by his fellow officers to get them out of trouble. The Troika accompanies a journey over the snowy Russian countryside in a three-horse sleigh, the bells on their harnesses jingling merrily.

The Nutcracker Suite: Dance of the Sugar-plum Fairy; Dance of the Mirlitons; Trepak Tchaikovsky     
Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker is a magical account of Christmas Eve in which presents are handed out at a grand party. A young girl, Clara, is given a wooden nutcracker doll by her mysterious uncle. That night the nutcracker comes to life, transforms himself into a prince, and takes Clara on a dream journey through a wintry wonderland to the Kingdom of Sweets, where she is entertained by a succession of colourful dances. The Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy gets its tinkly delicacy from an instrument called the celesta; the Dance of the Mirlitons is a charmer, featuring a pair of flutes; and last, the Trepak is a lively Russian Cossack dance.

The Snow Maiden: Dance of the Tumblers Rimsky-Korsakov      
Winter has long exerted a fascination upon Russian composers – not surprising, given that so much of the country is so cold! Russia’s colourful folklore has also provided plenty of inspiration – and the two subjects come together in works such as Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Snow Maiden. The maiden of the title is the child of nature, the daughter of Spring and Frost. In the Dance of the Tumblers the Tsar is entertained as he presides over a contest in which men compete to become the Snow Maiden’s husband.

Fairytale Sleighride Adam Saunders                      
In Fairytale Sleighride by modern-day composer Adam Saunders, it’s easy to imagine the horses trotting along and the sleigh-bells ringing. It almost sounds like a Disney film soundtrack – you can imagine it accompanying the scene in Beauty and the Beast where the two characters play in the snow – and that’s not surprising because Adam writes music for lots of films and TV shows. As for how he makes it sound fairy-tale-ish, it’s partly down to him often keeping the instruments playing high: listen to the chirpy woodwind and the bouncy high strings. Then, can you hear the chiming instrument? That’s the instrument onstage that looks like an upright piano but is actually a celesta, which we’ve just heard in The Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy. 

The Polar Express: Concert suite Alan Silvestri,arr. Brubaker
Robert Zemeckis’s haunting computer-animated 2004 film The Polar Express is set aboard a train full of children bound for the North Pole to visit Santa Claus as he prepares for Christmas. It’s something of a classic now but initial reviews were mixed, although the yearning title-song, Believe, sung by Josh Groban, was Oscar-nominated the following year. The orchestral portion of the soundtrack, by Alan Silvestri, links together the sequence of classic songs that provide so much of the film’s atmosphere and has become popular beyond its celluloid context gathered together in this sumptuous suite.

Sleigh Ride Leroy Anderson                          
You’re not going to believe this but the American composer Leroy Anderson had the idea for his 1946 song Sleigh Ride during … a summer heatwave in America! Although he actually finished writing it in February 1948. You’ll recognise in it the 1940s Swing Era’s trademark walking bass and swinging beat, and the fact it makes you want to dance; in fact, if you were on a dance floor with an American 1940s dance band, you’d probably be dancing a foxtrot. 

^{Notes by David Threasher and Charlotte Gardner}

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Biographies

Grant Llewellyn conductor

Grant Llewellyn is Music Director of Orchestre National de Bretagne and Music Director Laureate of the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. He was born in Tenby, South Wales, and won a Conducting Fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, where he worked with Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur and André Previn.

He has conducted many leading orchestras and enjoys a close relationship with BBC National Orchestra of Wales, which he has led on tour to South America, including Patagonia.

He is also an accomplished opera conductor, with repertoire ranging from Handel to contemporary music.

He regularly leads education and outreach projects; in 2017 he led the first ever ‘Relaxed’ BBC Prom with BBC NOW, a concert specially designed for those with autism, sensory and communication impairments, and learning disabilities.

Elin Llwyd presenter

For 17 years Elin has worked as a professional actor, singer, voice-over artist and presenter on both stage and screen. Best known for her role in Pobol y Cwm and, perhaps more recently, for her work on S4C drama series’ Gwaith Cartref and 35Awr, Elin was also the voice of Dashy on the Welsh adaptation of the cartoon Octonauts.

Stage engagements include Cape Town Opera’s Tiger Bay, the Musical and vocal performances include Tosca with Sir Bryn Terfel at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and the Abu Dhabi Festival. Elin’s presenting career started on Tag; a weekly, live magazine programme for young people, and since then she has presented various programmes for S4C including the Urdd Eisteddfod, Gŵyl Cerdd Dant, Band Cymru and Llangollen International Eisteddfod.

Elin is also co-founder of ABC – Academi Berfformio Caerdydd and ABC Y Fro, a performing arts academy for children and young people in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.