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A Very Merry DPops Medley
Music by Mykola Leontovych, Irving Berlin, Albert Hague, & Leroy Anderson
Arr. John Owen Weber '26, Andy Wong '25
Edited by Melody Gebremedhin '24
Conducted by Eli Gilbert '24
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“Carol of the Bells” opens this 2022 DPops Holiday Medley; it is a traditional Ukrainian Christmas carol composed by Mykola Leontovych (1914), with lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky. It was originally based off of the Ukrainian folk chant titled “Shchedryk,” and with its simple four-note motif, this frequently-covered-classic was begging for a DPops edition! The epic string lines quickly give way to the mellower “White Christmas,” a song originally written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 musical film “Holiday Inn.” The song has since been covered by many popular artists, including Michael Bublé and Meghan Trainor. The lyrics bring listeners back to the Christmases of their youth: simpler and blissful.
A mashup between "Greensleeves" and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" concludes the medley. A traditional English folk song with a rich performance history spanning over five centuries, "Greensleeves" is one of the most widespread, famous folk songs. It has been found in numerous manuscripts in the 16th and 17th centuries, and is even referenced by Shakespeare in his play The Merry Wives of Windsor. Debuting in the classic 1966 animated special Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was composed by Albert Hague and its lyrics were written by Dr. Seuss himself. The different harmonic, rhythmic, stylistic contrasts between these songs serves as a driving force for the medley, and reflects diverse traditions and means of celebrating the holidays.
"Sleigh Ride" is a staple of the pops orchestra repertoire, originally composed by Leroy Anderson in 1948 and premiered by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. Anderson was a prolific composer of ‘light orchestral’ music, a giant of the genre that DPops now inhabits. Sleigh Ride was an instant classic, spawning numerous covers including arrangements for wind band and piano by Anderson and vocal recordings by The Ronettes and Gwen Stefani, with lyrics written in 1950 by Mitchell Parish. The piece is evocative of a ride through the snow, with temple blocks representing the clip-clopping of horseshoes, slap stick as a whip crack, and trumpet mimicking a horse’s whinny. Sleigh Ride is one of the most widely covered pieces of American music, and tonight DPops adds its name to the endlessly diverse list of groups that have interpreted this classic of the American songbook.
-John Owen Weber '26, Andy Wong '25, & Eli Gilbert '24