'Silent Night' - (in the style of Pink Floyd)

The December People pay tribute to a time of year that has a special magic for everyone throughout our lives. It is a magic that is passed on from generation to generation. Music and magic are two items, if handed down properly, can have an infinite life and unlimited power.

The song:
Silent Night (German: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht") is a popular Christmas carol. The original lyrics of the song "Stille Nacht" were written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria, by the priest Father Joseph Mohr and the melody was composed by the Austrian headmaster Franz Xaver Gruber. In 1859, John Freeman Young (second Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Florida) published the English translation that is most frequently sung today. The version of the melody that is generally sung today differs slightly (particularly in the final strain) from Gruber's original, which was a sprightly, dance-like tune in 6/8 time, as opposed to the slow, meditative lullaby version generally sung today. Today, the lyrics and melody are in the public domain. The carol was first performed in the Nikolaus-Kirche (Church of St. Nicholas) in Oberndorf, Austria, on December 24, 1818.

The movie: The Little Matchgirl
In 2006, Walt Disney Feature Animation finished production work on a new adaptation of The Little Match Girl. The short was originally intended to be a part of a Fantasia film, but this project was canceled. The Little Matchgirl is last of the four shorts from the aborted compilation to be developed as a stand alone film. It was subsequently released as a special feature on the 2006 Platinum Edition DVD of The Little Mermaid. "Nocturne from String Quartet No. 2 in D Major" by Alexander Borodin.

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"Twas The Night Before Christmas" - (in the style of Led Zeppelin)

Robert Berry formed The December People in order to play great music together and bring a contemporary sound to holiday music. As an experiment, they posed a musical question for all of us. If great groups such as The Who, Boston, U2, ZZ Top, Peter Gabriel, ELP, Led Zeppelin, Sting, Pink Floyd and Santana all recorded familiar Christmas songs, what would they sound like? The answer is pretty simple. They would sound like Christmas... with the unmistakable stamp of each of these timeless artists.The December People pay tribute to a time of year that has a special magic for everyone throughout our lives. It is a magic that is passed on from generation to generation. Music and magic are two items, if handed down properly, can have an infinite life and unlimited power.

Short movie: Momentos (a Portuguese short film for the world).

Numa noite normal com o passado largado da memória, um homem reencontra, no lugar a que chama casa, lembranças de um tempo que viveu. Fragmentos de pura felicidade e instantes de sublime partilha, surgem como apontamentos de esperança de um presente que não voltará a ser o mesmo.

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"Joy To The World " - Pink Martini

Joy To The World is a festive, nondenominational holiday album with music from around the globe. 

“There are 14 songs on Joy to the World,” says Thomas Lauderdale, “including well-known traditional holiday songs like Irving Berlin’s White Christmas... sung by China Forbes in English and by the incredible Saori Yuki... the Barbra Streisand of Japan... in Japanese. 

With the Pacific Youth Choir and the handbell choir Bells of the Cascades, we recorded Shchedryk, known in English-speaking countries as “Carol of the Bells,” with the original Ukrainian text which tells of a lark flying into the house at the start of a new year, thus bringing good fortune. 

We recorded a Hebrew prayer Elohai N’tzor with Ida Rae Cahana and Ari Shapiro and Patricia Costa Kim. (Ida Rae Cahana was for many years the canter at Central Synagogue in New York City and now lives in Portland... Ari Shapiro is the NPR White House correspondent… and accordionist Patricia Costa Kim was just named director of education at Experience Music Project in Seattle, but is also known by millions on YouTube as the keyboardist bandleader of Sonseed and their Christian ska song “Jesus is a friend of mine”). 

There’s a Chinese New Year song from 1946, a Fela inspired version of We Three Kings, a song in Ladino (the intersection of Spanish and Hebrew), Silent Night in the original German, as well as a verse in Arabic and another in English. The album ends with a samba parade of Auld Lang Syne with choruses in English, Arabic and French over the incredible percussion of the Lions of Batucada.” 

Lauderdale notes, “I love the holidays and all the music that goes with it. We strove to make an inclusive and non-denominational album that could be played anywhere in the world.”

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