Carols by Burt and Betinis

Synopsis

It’s Christmas Day, and for many families that means special holiday traditions – and if you’ve ever been out “caroling, caroling” you might have sung this well-known staple by American composer Alfred Burt.

Well, Alfred Burt, a jazz trumpeter from Michigan who composed 15 beloved carols, is part of a larger family tradition – begun back in the 1920s by his father, the Reverend Bates G. Burt, who – every year – composed a new Christmas carol to send in a seasonal greeting card to friends and family.

Fast forward to the 21st century, when young composer Abbie Betinis would celebrate Christmas with her grandparents in Michigan. She says, “I knew there were certain carols we’d sing – even joyful ones – that could make everyone cry... and I realized later that these were our family carols. They helped us remember the generations before and feel connected to them and to their traditions. So I thought maybe I should write one myself.”

And write she did. With composition degrees from St Olaf College and the University of Minnesota, Abbie Burt Betinis, the great-granddaughter of Reverend Burt, has now written an annual carol since 2001 – carols which have been performed the world over, each one premiering on Minnesota Public Radio – before being sent to mailboxes across America as the new Burt Family Christmas card.

Abbie’s carol we’ve been sampling here, with lyrics by Holly Windle, is from 2007, called “Run, Toboggan, Run.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Alfred Burt (1920-1954) “Caroling Caroling” MPR Carolers (Carrie Henneman Shaw; Linda Kachelmeier; Justin Karch; Eric Bartlett) Minnesota Public Radio studio recording (December 2013)

Abbie Burt Betinis (b.1980) “Run Toboggan Run” MPR Carolers (Carrie Henneman Shaw; Jenny French; Laura Krider; Abbie Betinis, Bryan Fisher; Jeff Stern; Chad Shultis; Michael Meyer) Minnesota Public Radio studio recording (December 2007)

On This Day

Births

• 1583 - Baptism of English composer and organist Orlando Gibbons, in Oxford;

Deaths

• 1845 - German composer Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach, age 86, in Berlin; His father was the "Buckeburg" Bach, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (The last of J.S. Bach's composer-children);

• 1871 - Russian composer Alexander Scriabin (Gregorian date: Jan. 6, 1872);

Premieres

• 1723 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 63 ("Christen, ätzet diesen Tag") and "Magnificat" in E-flat, (S. 243a) performed on the 1st Day of Christmas as part of Bach's first annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1723/24);

• 1724 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 91 ("Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ") performed Christmas Day as part of Bach's second annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1724/25);

• 1725 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 110 ("Unser Mund sei voll Lachens") performed on Christmas Day as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1728 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 197a ("Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe") probably performed in Leipzig on Christmas Day as part of Bach's fourth annual Sacred Cantata cycle (to texts by Christian Friedrich Henrici, a.k.a. "Picander") during 1728/29;

• 1734 - Bach: Part 1 ("Jauchzet, frohlocket") of the 6-part "Christmas Oratorio," S. 248, in Leipzig;

• 1815 - Beethoven: cantata "Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt" (Sea Calm and Prosperous Voyage) and the "Namensfeier" (Name Day Fest) Overture, Op. 115, at the Redoutensaal in Vienna, conducted by Beethoven, at a benefit for the Citizens' Hospital Fund;

• 1818 - Franz Gruber: "Silent Night," in St. Nicholas Church, Obendorf, Germany, composed the night before (Christmas eve);

• 1870 - Wagner: "Siegfried Idyll," at his villa in Switzerland as a combined birthday and Christmas gift to his 33-year old wife, Cosima (she was born on Dec. 24, 1837), Hans Richter playing trumpet and Wagner conducting an ensemble from the top of the staircase; The work is named for their son Siegfried who was six months old on that Christmas morning, and who later also became a composer;

• 1902 - Rimsky-Korsakov: opera "Kashchey the Immortal," in Moscow, Ippolitov-Ivanov conducting (Julian date: Dec. 12);

• 1934 - Shostakovich: Cello Sonata, in Leningrad, by cellist Viktor Kubatsky, with the composer at the piano;

Others

• 1821 - Beethoven finishes his "Hammerklavier" Piano Sonata (No. 29;

• 1931 - First national radio broadcast of a complete opera, Humperdinck's "Hänsel und Gretel," from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City;

• 1937 - Arturo Toscanini conducts his first radio concert by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, consisting of a Vivaldi concerto in D minor; Mozart Symphony No. 40; and Brahms Symphony No. 1;