This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion focuses on music involving Christmas and drums, but begins with Advent music from a German theologian and composer Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen, who lived from 1670 to 1739. He was a pietest and ran homes for orphans. He wrote 44 hymns and published a hymnal entitled “Spiritual Songbook” that included 1500 new and old hymns. Today’s opening composition is the Advent hymn “Fling Wide the Door,” also known as “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.” The original German words were written by Georg Weissel in 1623. Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with a recording by the Ulmer Brass and Woodwind Ensemble.
- Macht hoch die Tur (Fling Wide the Door)
Composer: Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen (1670-1739)
Performer: Ulmer Brass Ensemble
Album: Instrumental Music for Advent and Christmas
- Little Drummer Boy
Composer: Katherine Kennicott Davis (1892-1980)
Performer: Empire Brass
Album: Empire Brass Christmas
- Pat-a-Pan
Composer: Bernard de la Monnoye (1641-1728)
Performer: Gabriel V Brass Ensemble
Album: Christmas in Brass
- Fum, Fum, Fum
Composer: Traditional Catalan
Performer: Burning River Brass
Album: Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Little Drummer Boy's Bolero
Composer: Julie Giroux (1961- )
Performer: Symphonic Winds of the University of Texas at El Paso
Album: Julie Giroux Presents Christmas Gone Crazy
- Peter Patapan
Composer: Julie Giroux (1961- )
Performer: Symphonic Winds of the University of Texas at El Paso
Album: Julie Giroux Presents Christmas Gone Crazy
- I Want a Hippopotmus for Christmas (1953)
Composer: John Rox (1907-1957)
Performer: Gayla Peevey (1943- )
Album: Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time
- All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (1947 recording)
Composer: Donald Yetter Garnder (1913-2004)
Performer: Spike Jones (1911-1965) & City Slickers
Album: Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time
- Christmas Dragnet (1953)
Composer: Stan Freberg (1926-2015)
Performer: Stan Freberg & Daws Butler
Album: Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Christmas Novelty CD of All Time
- Yo Tannenbaum
Composer: arranged by Gordon Goodwin
Performer: Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Album: Bah, Humduck: A Looneytunes Christmas
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Composer: arranged by Gordon Goodwin
Performer: Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band
Album: Bah, Humduck: A Looneytunes Christmas
- With Sweet Jubilation
Composer: James Curnow (1943- )
Performer: Eastern Wind Ensemble
Album: Christmas Collage
