# Santa Claus Symphony



## Funny (Nov 30, 2013)

Sorry if this has been posted before - I can't find it here. At least it's seasonally appropriate: William Henry Fry's "Santa Claus" Symphony.  I'm not going to make the case for Fry as one of the all-time top-10 composers... BUT he deserves to be more widely known, having (just for instance) introduced the saxophone into the symphony in this 1853 work. While he was a champion of American composers, you'll hear a solid influence of early Wagner, as well as (to my ear) thick swatches of Brahms and Bruckner here and there - before they even started writing symphonies. Happy Holidays!


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## arpeggio (Oct 4, 2012)

I vaguely recall our community orchestra performing this music maybe ten years ago. It was not great music but it was fun to play.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

No, none of Fry's works are great. They're just OK, but I do listen to his Santa Claus Symphony once every 5-6 years (same for the other pieces on that Naxos CD) and it does bring a smile or two to me. His small claim to fame is as one of the earlier examples of an American symphonist.


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## rrudolph (Sep 15, 2011)

Another Santa Claus work by an obscure 19th century American composer: Santa Claus Overture (1900) by Harry Rowe Shelley (1858-1947). Shelley was mostly an organist who studied composition with Dvorak, among others. I played on a recording of it (shown below) about 20 years ago. Don't remember much about it except that the timpani part was kind of bizarre. Maybe I'll give it a listen!!









EDIT: I did go back and listen to it. Not a world-changing masterpiece, but not a bad way to spend 8 minutes either. It's suitably festive in a German romantic sort of way with lots of percussion.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

rrudolph said:


> Another Santa Claus work by an obscure 19th century American composer: Santa Claus Overture (1900) by Harry Rowe Shelley (1858-1947).


Thanks for alerting me to a christmas themed concert overture. I'm always on the lookout for adding one to my collection.


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## Chris (Jun 1, 2010)

A Santa Claus symphony? I think the critics would sleigh this.

:tiphat: Chris has left the building


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