Sleigh Ride

Composer: ANDERSON, Leroy
  • Anderson wrote this work, in its original orchestral form, in 1948.
  • Anderson was known for his creative orchestration effects, especially the use of non-traditional instruments. (For example, in The Typewriter, he included a typewriter as an instrument in his scoring). In this piece, listen for a whip, sleigh bells, and a trumpet imitating the “whinney” of a horse.
  • In 1950, Anderson collaborated with lyricist Mitchell Parrish to create a song from this orchestral piece.
  • Anderson originally intended this work as a picture of winter landscape in general, not specifically as a Christmas piece.1

Sources

  1. Howard Pollack, “Anderson, Leroy,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 5, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000000863

Cut IDs

48391 10062 23574 17543