"The First Noël" is a traditional classical English carol, most likely from the 18th century. Noël, the French word for Christmas, is from the Latin word natalis which translates as "birthday." In its current form, the song is of Cornish origin, first published in 1823. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale, as opposed to the tonic, like most carols. The original Cornish lyrics read "O well, O well, the Angels did say" as opposed to "The first Noël..." The author is unknown.

I wanted to begin this collection simply. I kept the melody without ornament. The right hand ostinato has a slight progressive rock feel (similar to the final track) and evokes the crystalline cold and shining beauty of midwinter evenings, or a midnight rain of stardust. The ending verse is intended to express how the first birthday has found a home deep within, never to be lost.

"Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle" originated from the Provence region of France in the 16th century. The song is usually notated in 3/8 time, creating a light, fast waltz feel. The carol was first published in 1553 in France, and was subsequently translated into English in the 18th century. The song was originally not a Christmas carol, but rather dance music for French nobility. In the carol, visitors to the stable have to keep their voices down so the newborn can enjoy his dreams. To this day in the Provence region, children dress up as shepherds and milkmaids, carrying torches and candles to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, while singing the carol.

Ever since I played this carol on my flutophone in 5th grade, it has been one of my favorite corals. I love the sense of freedom, the lighter-than-air balletic joy. I change keys several times to keep the swirling chordal play moving upward.

"I Saw Three Ships" is a traditional Christmas carol from England. A variant of its parent tune "Greensleeves," the earliest printed version of "Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was published in 1833. The lyrics mention the ships sailing into Bethlehem, however the nearest body of water is the Dead Sea (about 20 miles away). The reference to three ships might originate in the three ships that bore purported relics of the Biblical magi to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century. Another possible reference may be to Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia, who bore a coat of arms of three silver ships.

The fugue I use to begin this arrangement symbolizes the three ships weaving their way toward their destination, enjoying the wind and waves and adventures of the long journey. The majestic chordal section was a surprise to me, as I hadn't written it down beforehand. It just came to me as I played, as things sometimes do.

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" first appeared in 1739, written by Charles Wesley. A sombre man, Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the stirring tune we now expect. Moreover, Wesley's original opening couplet was "Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings". The popular version is the result of alterations by various hands, notably George Whitefield, Wesley's co-worker, who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one, and Felix Mendelssohn. A hundred years after publication, in 1840, Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, that animates the carol we know today.

With a nod to Charles Wesley, I have set this version in a more solemn New Age jazz-blues universe. In keeping with this style, the music shrugs off the sadness of the world and finds strength in the grace and elegance of each melodic variation.

"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" is an English traditional carol. Like so many early Christmas songs, the carol was written as a direct reaction to the church music of the 15th century. It is referred to in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, 1843: "...at the first sound of 'God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!', Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost."

This is not only the fifth track on the album, but the arrangement is in 5/4 time. The style is reminiscent of Dave Brubeck's recording, "Take Five" (written by Paul Desmond). I present this song as an homage to one of my most beloved piano influences. The final variation is for three hands, as I envision his ghost sitting beside me at the piano.

"Carol of the Bells" is by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921). The song is based on a folk chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk", based on the four-note motif. The original work was intended to be sung a cappella. It was associated with the coming New Year which, in pre-Christian Ukraine, was originally celebrated with the coming of spring in April. (This explains why the original Ukrainian text speaks about a swallow returning and lambs being born.) With the introduction of Christianity to Ukraine, and the adoption of the Julian calendar, the celebration of the New Year was moved from April to January, and the holiday with which the chant was originally associated became the Feast of Epiphany. In Ukraine, the chant is sung on the eve of the Julian New Year.

I hope I capture both the ringing of bells and the flight of swallows in my arrangement.

"O Holy Night" (Cantique de Noël) was composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877). Cappeau, a wine merchant and poet, was asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. His version was more severe than what we sing today: "Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour, when God as man descended unto us to erase the stain of original sin and to end the wrath of His Father." I love his third verse: "The Redeemer has broken every bond. The Earth is free, and Heaven is open. He sees a brother where there was only a slave, Love unites those that iron had chained... People stand up! Sing of your deliverance. Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!" Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight created a singing edition in 1855, employing the lyrics now used, including my favorite carol phrase, "'til he appeared and the soul felt its worth."

I have always loved the breathtaking melodic build into the climactic line, "O night divine!" I begin there, as a portend, then set out on a moody modal soft shoe reverie. The image for me is someone waiting in the final hours of the night, happy and self-contented, unaware of the greater fulfillment that will soon arrive. The final chords try to understate the climax of the music, making it instead an encompassing embrace.

"O come, O come, Emmanuel" is the mid-19th century translation of the Ecclesiastical Latin text "Veni, veni, Emmanuel," based on the biblical prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (God is with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus. I use the older spelling "Immanuel" to harken back to Isaiah's Messiah and the original Hebrew.

Departing from the traditional chant, I have set this melody to a driving romp. The repeating nature of the single bass note makes me think of the many searching steps taken by those hoping to find their Messiah, with a nod to the energy required and fun one can have along the way.

This track combines two songs: "Good King Wenceslas" and "Here We Come A-wassailing."

"Good King Wenceslas" is an eastern European carol that tells a story of Good King Wenceslas braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (the second day of Christmas, December 26). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia or Svatý Václav in Czech (907–935). The carol first appeared in 1853. The lyrics were set to a tune based on a 13th century Finnish carol "Tempus adest floridum" ("The time is near for flowering"), usually sung in spring.

"Here We Come A-wassailing" (or "Here We Come A-caroling") is an English traditional Christmas carol and New Years song composed c. 1850. "Wassailing" refers to singing carols door to door wishing good health. The Christmas spirit often made the rich a little more generous than usual, and bands of beggars and orphans used to dance their way through the snowy streets of England, offering to sing good cheer and to tell good fortune if the householder would give them a drink from his wassail bowl or a penny or a pork pie or let them stand for a few minutes beside the warmth of his hearth. The wassail bowl itself was a hearty combination of hot ale, apples, spices and mead, just alcoholic enough to warm tingling toes and fingers of the singers.

Part 1 is the first part of Wenceslas' journey, capturing his buoyant spirit. The second variation incorporates the nimble dexterity needed for hopping from footprint to footprint. The third variation shows more confident footfalls coming, perhaps, from new-found faith.

Part 2 begins as the poor walk into the cold to begin wassailing. Their joy increases as they sing and dance through the streets, and as the affluent open their doors and windows and hearts. Then the long walk home begins, harkening back to the long walk of Wenceslas through the ice and snow.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), an Episcopal priest from Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the Palestinian city of Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, Lewis Redner, added the music. Redner's tune, simply titled "St. Louis," is the tune used most often for this carol in the United States (and used here). In the Commonwealth, and sometimes in the U.S. (especially in the Episcopal Church), "Forest Green" is used instead, adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams from an English folk ballad, "The Ploughboy's Dream."

I used Ralph Vaughan Williams' lush orchestrational style, as well as Bill Evans' jazz piano voicings, as inspiration for my initial version of this American carol. But I end with something more akin to my own image of St. Louis, as a wry nod to Brooks' organist.

"Joy to the World" is the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98. The song was first published in 1719. Watts wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a song celebrating Jesus' birth. Only the second half of Watts' lyrics are used today. The music was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Handel, since fragments of the theme are from Handel's "Messiah." However, Handel did not compose the entire tune. The name "Antioch" is generally cited.

I wanted to play against type and go for something that bordered more on the tragic than the triumphant with my arrangement. I was imagining a mother's prescience: Mary might have had a feeling of what was in store for her. We look into the eyes of newborns to see absolute innocence, not wisdom. I've always imagined Jesus' eyes would know more than should be possible.

"O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree") is a traditional German folk song that became associated with the Christmas tree by the early 20th century and is now sung as a Christmas carol. Tannenbaum is a fir tree. The lyrics do not actually refer to Christmas, or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Instead, they refer to the fir's evergreen qualities as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness. My father always sang this song in German, coming from a small town in Wisconsin that spoke German up until our involvement in WW1. It has special meaning to me, since my father rarely sang. This was his carol.

After stating the theme, I let the ebb and flow of wind cascade through the branches, moving the melody from bough to bough, sometimes breaking it up a bit, sometimes letting it settle for a moment.

"Ding Dong Merrily on High" first appeared as a secular dance tune known as "le branle de l'Official" in Orchésographie, a dance book written by French cleric Jehan Tabourot (1519–1593). The lyrics are from English composer George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848–1934), the carol first published in 1924. Woodward took an interest in church bell ringing, which no doubt aided him in writing it.

My left hand figure reminds me of the light yet steady steps of a folk dance. I begin the song in the French countryside, but as the song progresses, I try to bring the chiming of bells into play. It evoke handbells rather than steeple church bells. I imagine them played in a circle as young dancers recall their practiced steps and gestures.

"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" ("A rose has sprung up"), most commonly translated to English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" or "A Spotless Rose", is a Christmas carol of German origin. English translation "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" was written by Theodore Baker in 1894. I pair it with "In the Bleak Midwinter," which has a similar feel. "In the Bleak Midwinter" is based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti written before 1872 in response to a request from the magazine Scribner's Monthly for a Christmas poem. It was published posthumously in Rossetti's Poetic Works in 1904. The poem became a Christmas carol after it appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 with a setting by Gustav Holst. However, Harold Darke's later anthem setting of 1909 has become the tune we now hear and was named the best Christmas carol in a poll of the world's leading choral experts in 2008.

The Italian grand piano I used for this recording almost quivers as I play, like the trembling stem of a rose swaying above an earth still covered with snow. I use very open voicings, to assist the spaciousness of the melodies. In the final verse, I evoke the bleakness of midwinter with the separation of the very low bass and very high treble notes.

I use two songs on this track, one acting as an introduction and ending, one as the main body of the arrangement. "Still, Still, Still" is an Austrian Christmas carol and lullaby. In German, its first line is "Still, still, still, weil's Kindlein schlafen will!" (Hush, hush, hush, for the little child wants to sleep!) The melody is a folk tune from Salzburg. The tune appeared first in 1865. The words, which run to six verses in German, describe the peace of the infant Jesus and his mother as they sleep. The body of the arrangement is "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" (sometimes rendered as "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"), a poem and Christmas carol written by Edmund Sears, pastor of the Unitarian Church in Wayland, Massachusetts. Sears composed the five-stanza poem in 1849. In 1850, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer who trained under Felix Mendelssohn, wrote the melody.

I end the phrases of "Still, still, still" with a minor feel, to better bring out the sense of "hush." I like the way it sets up the delicate melody of "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." My favorite part of the arrangement comes after I've stated the melody from "Midnight Clear" and vault into an improvised section of spiraling chords, almost in the style of Chopin, lifting the song high into the night sky of my imagination. The highest notes touch one special star, just for a moment.

"Silent Night" (German: Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht; English translation: Silent Night, Holy Night) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. The song was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at the St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf. Young priest Father Mohr brought the words to his organist Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service. Both performed the carol during the mass on the night of December 24.

Being born in winter, as was I (Wisconsin), provides you with an instinctual desire for finding and cherishing warmth. It may also help nurture an appreciation of long nights, solitude, and hot chocolate. I hope my arrangement of Silent Night is a quiet echo of those nights and that longing.

This is medley a based on several holiday tunes, including Toyland, Carol of the Bells, She Moved Through the Fair, and Auld Lang Syne. I play all synths, moog, organ and bass. Jim Edwards is on electric guitar. It is best listened to in headphones! Then you can catch all the sonic details. Jim and I did this track several years ago, combining our fascination for progressive rock with our love of Christmas music. I had never had a project I could attach this to... until now! Many thanks to Jim for letting me include it here.