For those of us who live in the Northeast, snow storms are part of the winter season. I suppose it’s where you are during the storm and in the 12 to 24 hours that follow. When I was a boy, as with most children, I found that snow storms signaled school closings, sleds, snow balls and fun. Things haven’t changed very much since then. When I ask my school age piano students how they felt and what they did during and after a recent snow storm, they share similar stories.

If you’re old enough, you may remember the Blizzard of ’78. The roads throughout Massachusetts were closed for nearly a week. My commercial group, Synergy, was scheduled to start a week’s engagement at the Marriott Hotel in Newton. After several hours of shoveling, I realized that my efforts to get to the gig were futile. This disappointed both the hotel management as well as the booking agent who had lost his 10% commission.

One of the tough things about being a full-time performing musician is that a “no play – no pay” week adds to the normal struggles of “living on the edge”. However, I enjoyed spending some unexpected time with my wife Brenda and the kids and got some much-needed rest during that week.

Needless to say, there was a sense of a Winter Wonderland during that week as we all encountered, experienced and enjoyed the beauty of the white stuff that was all around us. Nevertheless, there is a much more picturesque image that I remember when I think of a Winter Wonderland.

Brenda and I truly treasure the times that we have spent in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In fact, one of my orchestral compositions is entitled Symphonic Poem (Mount Washington). The town of Jackson, NH is particularly picturesque during the winter season and there is a resort there which truly captures the character of a Winter Wonderland.

Nestlenook Farm is a picturesque winter recreation spot which includes Austrian sleigh rides, snow shoeing and ice skating. In fact, their website presents it as A Magical Winter Wonderland. So now you have an idea of my memory of a Winter Wonderland.

Felix Bernard (1897 – 1944) was the composer, pianist and conductor who wrote the music for Winter Wonderland in 1934. The lyrics were written by Richard B. (Dick) Smith (1901-1935) the year before his untimely death. Because of its seasonal subject, this standard has continued to be identified as a Christmas song. However, there is no mention of this particular holiday in the words to the song.

Perhaps the richness of the harmonic (chord) patterns provides a key to the continued popularity of Winter Wonderland with pianists, vocalists and musicians in general. As with so many of the songs from the American Popular Songbook, the verse-verse-bridge-verse structure leaves room for variety while keeping familiarity. It also seems that the rhythms of melody capture the motion of the words “walking in a Winter Wonderland” so well that I can’t help but think that the words inspired the music rather than the other way around.

As I mentioned in my recent beguine blog series post that featured Tangerine, the solo piano style of Harry Connick Jr. is bluesy, upbeat and energizing. His rendition of Winter Wonderland is just as terrific. Although fellow New Orleans musician Wynton Marsalis established his notoriety with his original jazz compositions, his later recordings of standards has added to his ever-increasing legacy. His swinging version of Winter Wonderland showcases his excellent trumpet playing as well as his skills as an arranger and band leader.

Several years ago during my long stint at the Radisson Milford Hotel, I bought several Christmas records (you remember the LPs don’t you?). The cassette tape I had made of Ray Charles‘ performance of Winter Wonderland kept my head bobbing from the sleigh bells at the introduction to the walking bass lines that kept the groove going until the fade out of the track was no longer audible.

As I always tell my piano students, I continue to find that listening to inspiring recordings of the songs that I play truly transforms the energy and enthusiasm of my own piano playing. Besides that, there is always something that I hear in performances by great artists that makes me a better musician.

Perhaps you would like to become a better musician. Do you need some guidance? Your piano playing can truly benefit by taking piano lessons from a knowledgeable and experienced teacher.

Whether you live near our convenient Natick Piano Studio location or close to our Hudson Studio facility, our piano teachers at the Ed Mascari Piano Studio are above all dedicated to helping you
Learn to play the music you love!