Althouse: "I usually suggest Duke Ellington’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s 'Nutcracker Suite,' my favorite piece of holiday music..."

December 25, 2019

"I usually suggest Duke Ellington’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s 'Nutcracker Suite,' my favorite piece of holiday music..."

Writes the NYT columnist David Leonhardt in email that I could unsubscribe from, but this is clearly excellent enough to stay my hand for the nonce:

22 comments:

Lurker21 said...: This is the "David Leonhardt" who attacks "centrist bias" in the media?

Begone, wretch!; 12/25/19, 10:46 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "This is the "David Leonhardt" who attacks "centrist bias" in the media?"

Yeah.

Sorry, I didn't have my tag for his name on this post originally. I've added it, so you can click and easily find the "centrist bias" post (and other posts (before you decide whether he's a "wretch")).; 12/25/19, 11:00 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: ok hate to be such a ballbuster

...but this 'Nutcracker' really sucks eggs.

put this down as one of the "Crapped-Up Klassics" that crop up
this time of year.; 12/25/19, 11:24 AM
rhhardin said...: It has the awful sound of switched-on Bach. Classical rap.; 12/25/19, 11:36 AM
Seeing Red said...: Brian Setzer has a fun piece, too.

One year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s program was Pieces from Swan Lake and pieces from The Nutcracker. The Orchestra played and the jazz band played the same piece.; 12/25/19, 12:36 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Yes, but did Obama suggest this to Leonhardt?; 12/25/19, 12:40 PM
Ralph L said...: Don't tell Tchaikovsky the news.; 12/25/19, 1:04 PM
Andrew said...: Yeah, that arrangement doesn't really work for me either.

Leonhardt: what is he good for?

I like the Pentatonix version of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

https://youtu.be/jt3oAyK_IG8; 12/25/19, 1:45 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: @Andrew

how about doing one of your "Trumpy-Tweets" for Christmas?

we hope to see lots more from you in the New Year!; 12/25/19, 2:56 PM
rhhardin said...: Switched on Bach was the wrong reference - that was I think the moog synthesizer album, which was good.

There was some hip Bach album with a drum bed and after-beat melodies that I wanted to refer to as awful.

The album indicating an inability to hear Bach.; 12/25/19, 3:12 PM
Nichevo said...: PDQ Bach?; 12/25/19, 3:34 PM
Beasts of England said...: I liked the arrangement - festive!!; 12/25/19, 4:23 PM
Cato said...: I hate to say this, it being Christmas and all, but these guys are terrible. They sound like a volunteer community orchestra. I couldn't listen to it all. Had to stop after the first song ended.

Duke Ellington's arrangement is great and I've heard played great.

But this? Not great.; 12/25/19, 5:01 PM
Narr said...: Late to the concert again but yeah, pretty stodgy stuff. 3/10.

Narr
Not Pyotr or Duke's fault; 12/25/19, 5:46 PM
Jupiter said...: Oh, David Leonhart is celebrating a "holiday"? What kind of fucking "holiday" is Dave Leonhardt celebrating? Maybe the day the Muzzies sacked Constantinople? I'm sure a consummate Quisling like David Leonhardt would be delighted to celebrate the destruction of a great Christian city, the slaughter of its men and the rape and enslavement of their women and children. Multi-culti guy like Dave could really get down with a thing like that. Is that it, Dave? Maybe Dave is gonna start a 1453 project, to remind us all of how fortunate Europeans were to be enslaved by delightful Islamic peoples? But no, that can't be the "holy day" that David Leonhardt is celebrating. That was in May.

Take a look at your employer's holiday calendar, Dave. That day off with pay? What's it called? Muzzie-rape-a-kaffir-whore day? No. Xmas? No. What? C'mom, Dave, you highly-cultured bastard you, spit it out! Whatsa matter, Dave, you still got that big holiday dick in your mouth?; 12/25/19, 6:02 PM
Andrew said...: @Inga...ARM,
Thanks for the compliment! I'm all out of inspiration at the moment, but I'll do my best in the New Year.; 12/25/19, 6:30 PM
jeremyabrams said...: Billy Strayhorn did the Tchsakocsky arrangements, I believe.; 12/25/19, 6:32 PM
Murph said...: Andrew said...
12/25/19, 1:45 PM

I love the ptx & its a capella version (without the video, which I find distracting) along with just about everything ptx does, but my favorite non-symphony version of the "Dance" is either
L.A. Guitar Quartet.
https://youtu.be/893ztCEmBkE

or Canadian Brass
https://youtu.be/x3Ydxk_sP6Y; 12/25/19, 7:20 PM
Rory said...: Better is the version by the Ellington band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEU587HUiRo

Best is the terse version by Les Brown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Y7TRlvYZ8

I think Setzer's recording above is based on this.; 12/25/19, 7:48 PM
effinayright said...: Ralph L said...
Don't tell Tchaikovsky the news.
**************

threadwinner +100; 12/25/19, 11:38 PM
Deb said...: Back when I was a kid, my Dad called our old, sagging sofa the nutcracker suite.; 12/26/19, 8:11 AM
mikee said...: So you suggest this piece to other people to listen to, during the Christmas holidays?
You do have a mean streak in you, although it only comes out in subtle ways like this.

I give my nieces and nephews toy musical instruments when they're toddlers, to make noise with for mommy and daddy, and kid-sized hand tools when they're about 6, to work on mommy and daddy's living room furniture. But I never thought to give my siblings annoying music directly, they'd figure it out too quickly.

May I suggest some Haitian Voodoo singing? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwlQFSLhTQ
I bought a vinyl record of this type once as an undergrad in college, for a dollar at a clearance sale, and my roomie listened to it, took it outside, broke it in pieces, doused it with lighter fluid, and set it afire. He went on to become a Boston Pops conductor, so I trust he was correct in doing so.; 12/26/19, 10:06 AM