Sleigh Ride

Sleigh Ride
by Leroy Anderson
Catalogue Decca 9-16000 (45 rpm) / 16000 (78 rpm)
Genre Light
Form Rondo
Language English
Composed February 1948 (1948-02)
Performed 1949 (1949)
Published 1948 (1948)[1]

"Sleigh Ride" performed instrumentally by the United States Navy Band in December 2012

"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestra standard composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946 and finished the work in February 1948. It was originally instrumental; the lyrics, where someone asks another to join them for a ride in a sleigh, were written by Mitchell Parish in 1950.[2] The orchestral version was first recorded in 1949 by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.[3] "Sleigh Ride" was a hit record on RCA Victor Red Seal 49-0515 (45 rpm) / 10-1484 (78 rpm), and has become one of the orchestra's signature songs. The 45 rpm version was originally issued on red vinyl. The Pops has also recorded the song with John Williams, their conductor from 1979 to 1995, and Keith Lockhart, their current conductor.

The song's main melody was used (with no credit for Anderson) as the main theme of Victor Young's score for the 1949 western Streets of Laredo. Parish worked with Young around this time, writing the lyrics for Young's version of Hoagy Carmichael's previously instrumental "Stardust".

Details

"A Brush for the Lead", lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1867. The song's lyrics compare a sleigh ride to a "picture print by Currier and Ives" (a 19th-century printing company that closed in 1907, 43 years before the song's lyrics were written).
"Sleigh Ride" performed instrumentally by the United States Navy Band in December 2012

Leroy Anderson's own 1950 recording of "Sleigh Ride" on Decca 9-16000 (45 rpm) and 16000 (78 rpm) reached Cashbox magazine's bestsellers chart when re-released in 1952.

In 1950 The Andrews Sisters recorded the first vocal version.

Although "Sleigh Ride" is often associated with Christmas and appears on Christmas compilation albums, its lyrics mention no holiday (apart from certain recordings, such as those by the Carpenters, Walter Schumann and Air Supply, that substitute "Christmas party" for "birthday party" in the song's bridge). The song is noted for the sounds of a horse clip-clopping, and a whip used to get the horse moving. In most performances, a percussionist provides these sounds on temple blocks and a slapstick (or occasionally, drum rim shots), respectively. Toward the end of the piece, a trumpet imitates the sound of a horse whinnying.

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) review of Christmas music, "Sleigh Ride" consistently ranks as one of the top 10 most-performed songs written by ASCAP members.[4] ASCAP named "Sleigh Ride" the most popular piece of Christmas music in the U.S. in 2009–2012, based on performance data from over 2,500 radio stations. Anderson's recording remains the most popular instrumental version, while Johnny Mathis's has become the most popular vocal version.[5]

In his book Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography [Praeger 2004], Steve Metcalf says "'Sleigh Ride' ... has been performed and recorded by a wider array of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music."

"Sleigh Ride" is in rondo form.[6] The second section utilizes an unusual, unprepared modulation to III, then II. The difficulty of singing this has caused several recordings to alter the harmonies or omit this section altogether, as in the Phil Spector / Ronettes version.

Notable recordings

Classical "Sleigh Ride" pieces

"Die Schlittenfahrt" ("Sleigh Ride") is also the popular name of one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Three German Dances. It is sometimes mistakenly attributed to Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart, whose own Divertimento in F major is popularly known as "Musical Sleigh Ride".

The "Winter Night" segment of Frederick Delius's Three Small Tonepoems is also commonly known as "Sleigh Ride".

The "Troika" movement of Lieutenant Kijé by Sergei Prokofiev is also a musical sleigh ride, referring to a three-horse team drawing a carriage (troika means "group of three").

"Caribbean Sleigh Ride" is a work for symphony orchestra by Robert Wendel in the style of a fast Latin merengue.

References

  1. ↑ Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliograph, Praeger 2004, chapter 2 – Works, pages 25–81.
  2. ↑ Christmas in New England, Commonwealth Editions 2006, pages 116-121
  3. ↑ Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography, Praeger 2004, chapter 2 - Works, pages 25-81.
  4. ↑ ASCAP Announces Top 25 Holiday Songs – "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting ...)" Tops List
  5. ↑ "ASCAP Members Reign Over Top Ten Most-Played Holiday Songs List". ASCAP.
  6. ↑ Wieland, William. "Listen for Form Answer Key". Northern State University. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
  7. ↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
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