Christmas and Magic. A song, 4′. Words by Roy Powell, music by Kile Smith. Premiere of duet version, Evangelia Leontis, soprano, Megan Roth, mezzo-soprano, Julia Carey, piano, Calliope’s Call, Boston, 2 Dec 2022. Premiere of band version, Calesta Day, David Nobles, The DePue Brothers Band, St. Cecilia School, Fox Chase, Philadelphia, 14 Dec 2022. Also SATB and piano, completed 7 Sep 2023.
Roy Powell has taken to doing a bit of songwriting after a successful career as a health-care CEO. He asked me to assist on the words and music of one song project a few months ago, and when he told me about an idea for a Christmas song with both secular and sacred elements, I answered that I’d love to see it. He had lyrics only, really a draft, and asked me to run with it as no tune was coming to him at the moment.
I liked his draft and worked on the text, shaping it into two verses and a bridge. After Roy and I worked on that, I came up with music for what we were both hoping would be a nod to the great tradition of mid–20th-century American popular Christmas songs.
Finishing in the middle of October, I sent it to a few friends, not only for performance opportunities, on the off-chance that it could actually be sung in the upcoming Christmas season, but I also wanted to bounce it off people whose opinions I trusted. I’ve used popular-sounding materials in some of my music, but this was an out-and-out pop song. I was encouraged by the response, and immediately produced a duet version for the house concert premiere by Megan Roth’s art song organization Calliope’s Call in Boston.
Then Michael Kraft, who runs music programs for St. Cecilia in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia, St. Hilary in Abington, and the Fox Chase Music School, wrote me back. He thought it’d be perfect for his upcoming student Christmas concert with the DePue Brothers Band. They’re a nationally known group adept in classical, bluegrass, pop, and other styles, and have played for him before. Violinist Jason DePue and percussionist Don Liuzzi both play in the Philadelphia Orchestra, so they have local ties to the area, and Michael, an experienced guitarist in Atlantic City and throughout the area, seems to know just about everyone.
For the DePue Brothers I made an arrangement for four violins and vibraphone. Guitar, banjo, and bass joined in, as well as a little girl, one of Michael’s students, who strummed an Irish harp that her mother helped her hold. Calesta (Callie) Day, a wonderful soprano with vast experience in both Gospel and classical, and who was touring with the DePues, shared the singing duties of this (non-duet) version with David Nobles, an active and impressive vocalist in the nostalgia rock scene, being the current lead singer for Philadelphia legendary group The Trammps of “Disco Inferno” fame.
Lyrics
Christmas and magic: words that we pair.
Christmas and magic: words that we share.
A child is smiling, a tree is glowing,
These are the gifts we often recall.
Yet nothing can match all the joys overflowing
Out of the Lord’s gift for us and for all.
Christmas and magic: our love expressed.
Christmas and magic: and we are blessed.
Our family with us, our friends around us,
These are the gifts we often recall.
We’re blessed with this feeling, how love will surround us
Out of the Lord’s gift for us and for all.
We have just a few moments
When we touch other lives.
So let’s share all the wonder of love all around us:
And the magic of Christmas arrives.
Christmas and magic: words that we pair.
Christmas and magic: words that we share.
A child is smiling, a tree is glowing,
These are the gifts we often recall.
Yet nothing can match all the joys overflowing
Out of the Lord’s gift for us and for all.
Out of the Lord’s gift for us and for all.