Music | Barton Hills Choir

Dec 03

2012 Zilker Tree Lighting songs

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On Sunday evening, December 2, a record crowd gathered in Zilker Park for the annual lighting of the Zilker Holiday Tree. Since the founding of the Barton Hills Choir in 2009 they have been a featured performer for this event, and this year no one needed a coat since the temperature was nearly 80 degrees.

If you couldn’t be there (or just want to relive the fun) here are recordings of the songs from the event made by Michael Hall:

Sleigh Ride

Winter Wonderland

Jingle Bell Rock

To download a song, click the title to open the player. Click on the download link. Macintosh Safari users may need to option-click on the download link to begin the download.

Musicians:
Aaron Dembe – guitar
Jason Brint – bass
Randy Franklin – mandolin
Jake Perlman – snare drum
Tom Treanor – percussion
Barton Hills Choir 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade members – vocals

Nutcracker Suite practice songs

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Below are seven songs from the Nutcracker Suite for 4th graders to practice for their upcoming performance.

How to download mp3 files from this web site.

Fun facts:

The Nutcracker ballet with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 18th, 1892. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”
The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is famous for it’s use of an instrument called the celesta that appears similar to an upright piano but sounds similar to a glockenspiel. Composer John Williams’ scores for the first three Harry Potter films make prominent use of the celesta.

Octopus & Crocodile practice songs

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Here are two fun songs for practice. Octopus’s Garden features Director Gavin Tabone on keyboards, Jake Perlman on drums, and Never Smile at a Crocodile is performed by Aaron Dembe on the electric guitar and Gavin Tabone on keyboards. Vocals for both songs are performed by the sixth grade choir.

Octopus’s Garden

Never Smile at a Crocodile

How to download mp3 files from this web site.

Fun facts:

Octopus’s Garden, from the Beatles’ Abbey Road LP, was composed by drummer Ringo Starr. He was inspired to write it after being told by a boat captain “how octopuses go ’round the sea bed and pick up stones and shiny objects and build gardens.” It was only the second song he had ever written. You can see Ringo and George Harrison working on the song in the movie Let It Be.
Never Smile at a Crocodile is from Disney’s animated Peter Pan movie, released in 1953. The music was composed by Frank Churchill, the composer of the score for Snow White, who died in 1942. Walt Disney asked Jack Lawrence to write lyrics to the clever melodic piece.

ACL Festival Rehearsal Songs

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Here are ten songs for rehearsal from the set list planned for ACL Festival. Musicians performing on these songs include:

Aaron “Hair Doctor” Dembe on bass and guitar
Jake “Mr. Bubbles” Perlman on drums
Gavin Tabone on keyboards

Race for the Prize / Kamera

Help Me Rhonda / Tossin’ and Turnin’

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Pleasant Valley Sunday

How to play and download songs on the BHC web site

Fun facts:

“Sir Duke” was written by Steve Wonder in tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington. The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
“Pleasant Valley Sunday,” made famous by The Monkees in 1967, was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King about life in suburbia. Goffin’s and King’s inspiration for the name was a street named Pleasant Valley Way, in West Orange, New Jersey where they were living at the time.

Swingin’ On A Star for rehearsal

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Here is Swinging On A Star for second and third graders to rehearse in preparation for their February 24 show before the PTA meeting. Both audio and sheet music links are provided. This version is performed by Barton Hills Choir fifth graders, with director Gavin Tabone playing all of the musical instruments.

Swinging On A Star

How to play and download songs on the BHC web site

Sheet music (opens in a new window):

Swinging on a Star

Fun facts:

Swinging on a Star was featured in the movie Going My Way in 1944, and won an Academy Award for Best Song.
The song was inspired by a remark by singer Bing Crosby to one of his children. Song writer Jimmy Van Heusen was at Crosby’s house one evening for dinner, and to discuss a song for the movie Going My Way. During the meal one of the children began complaining about how he didn’t want to go to school the next day. The singer turned to his son and said to him, “If you don’t go to school, you might grow up to be a mule. Do you wanna do that?” Van Heusen thought this clever rebuke would make a good song for the movie.