Seven Songs for Christmas, Israel, and Birds

Plus, a brief preview of upcoming Bastiat's Window articles

Four original compositions and three arrangements by Robert F. Graboyes, plus seven artworks by Alanna S. Graboyes.

Until January 1, 50% of paid subscription revenues will be donated to Magen David Adom—Israel’s Red Cross. So far, Bastiat’s Window’s readers have enabled me to fund over $3,000 in MDA contributions. If you’re a free subscriber, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription between now and New Year’s Day.

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For some weeks, I’ve been writing on weighty, depressing matters, and I’m grateful that Bastiat’s Window readers have been so supportive about this departure from the usual BW fare of economics, science, health, and culture. Today, I need a quiet break from that material and hope you’re in a similar mood for something calming. I offer seven peaceful pieces of music for the holidays—four of which are original compositions of mine and three of which are my improvisations on traditional works.

Before getting to the music, though, here’s a brief peek into upcoming writing for Bastiat’s Window:

Next week, I plan to wrap up the Hamas-versus-Israel series with a piece on the organizational and philosophical descent of Hamas from groups closely allied with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s—and on the surprising story of a great Arab peacemaker who took a very different road away from his origins as a Nazi enthusiast.

After that, likely essay topics will include the impact of school lunch programs, paradoxes of medical price transparency, the linkages between “equity” and eugenics, the politics (not the substance) of the 50-year cold civil war over abortion, Ozempic’s possible impact (or lack thereof) on healthcare spending, neurodiversity among medical professionals, the immutable laws of politics, greatest modern television series, AI, “Acres of Diamonds,” and three obscure geniuses who changed the 20th century. Lots of ideas and pieces in the works. Hoping to bring them all to fruition soon. And of course, I’ll continue writing occasional pieces on the Middle East, antisemitism, and other Judaic matters.

But, back to the music. Bastiat’s Window has enjoyed explosive subscriber growth over the past few weeks, so many newcomers may not know that, aside from my work in economics and journalism, I also have a long career as a musician (semi-professional for decades) and as an amateur composer. (My paid music gigs began in 1972, and I competed nationally as a young composer in 1962.)

Below are my seven performances. Each is accompanied by a piece of art created by my wife, Alanna. You can see and buy her works on canvas and fabric at ASGraboyes.com (though all the ones pictued here have been sold). As always, I suggest listening to my music through a good set of headphones or a high-quality external speaker. And, of course, feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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“God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen”

Tonight is Christmas Eve, so I’ll take this opportunity to wish all of my Christian readers a very Merry Christmas. As I’ve written about the ongoing trauma in Israel, your support and encouragement have meant everything. As a musician, I gave public performances of Christmas music in countless venues, beginning in the late 1950s. My favorite Christmas melody was always “God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen.” Perhaps it is because I associate it with Charles Dickens’s timeless, A Christmas Carol.” Or, maybe I intuitively sensed that it was “[o]nce a folk carol sneered at by purists … .” That description comes from Günther Simmermacher’s lively history of the song that appeared in 2018 in The Southern Cross—a Catholic publication produced in Cape Town, South Africa. My rendition, in jazz idiom, is scored for piano, bass, violin, saxophones, vibraphone, and oboe. My wife’s painting features a wintry day at a much beloved spot on the Delaware coast.

“My Yiddishe Momme”

This isn’t specifically about Israel, but thematically, it’s close enough for 2023—a Jewish lament over loss of family and home. Sophie Tucker made this Jack Yellen/Lew Pollack song a top-5 hit in 1928. Here, I perform it as a slow tango for piano, bass, guitar, clarinet, and violin—noting that tango music does, in fact, have a substantial Jewish tradition behind it. My wife’s shawl is hand-felted.

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During the long COVID lockdowns, Alanna, and I found much peace in sitting on our deck, watching the astonishing array of birds passing above and around us—robins, swifts, crows, hawks, cardinals, wrens, finches, woodpeckers, blue jays, mourning doves, goldfinches, starlings, blackbirds, orioles, catbirds, hummingbirds, ducks, geese, and even the occasional seagull or bald eagle. These experiences led Alanna to do dozens of paintings of birds. In the following five cases (and a few others), I wrote music to accompany her avian art:

“Ponderance”

Alanna’s subject here is the albatross, and the music is a slow, pensive freeform piece for piano, clarinet, harp, and cello.

“What Tumbling Cloud Did You Cleave?”

Hawks are common and always-impressive sight from our back deck. These magnificent birds circle above, nest in the surrounding trees, and perch atop our neighbors’ houses. Some weeks back, we ventured into Virginia’s mountains to view the hawks’ semiannual migratory passing. My work of ambient music is scored for piano, strings, erhu, Andean panpipes, and low synthetic brass.

“Swan’s Theme”

This is my jazz adaptation of “Swan’s Theme” from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” It’s scored for grand piano, double bass, cello, flugelhorn, and electric guitar.

“Quoth the Cuckoo”

This is more whimsical—my attempt to capture a sort of Edgar Allan Poe mood. It’s scored for tympani, old-school electric-piano, ocarina, and something akin to tuned trash cans.

“A Feather for Ivan Tsarevich”

A rather joyful one to close out the set. Based on a Russian folk legend, it’s scored for clarinet, piano, balalaika, double bass, and violin.

LAGNIAPPE

Commemorating Israel’s Red Cross-equivalent

After sending the first tranche of Bastiat’s Window contributions to the American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA), I asked them to send me a few photos of the organization’s work in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas. Here are three that they sent:

Photos courtesy of the American Friends of Magen David Adom.

Robert F. Graboyes publishes Bastiat’s Window, a Substack journal of economics, science, and culture—with an emphasis on healthcare. He is a health economist, journalist, and musician in Alexandria, Virginia, and holds five degrees, including a PhD in economics from Columbia University. In 2014, he received the Reason Foundation’s Bastiat Prize for Journalism. His music compositions are at YouTube.com/@RFGraboyes/videos.