Artist: John Langstaff
Genre(s):
New Age
Discography:
Love
Year: 1999
Tracks: 14
As a teacher and vocalist only, John Langstaff has had a rich and varied career. But as the founder of the Christmas Revels in the mid-fifties, he has besides been responsible for one of the most invigorating modern day vacation celebrations. It seems capture, so, that Langstaff was born on Christmas Eve in 1920. He grew up in Brooklyn Heights, and at the historic period of octonary joined the Grace Church Choir where he sang soprano. His parents, world Health Organization ofttimes invited friends all over for spontaneous performances of Bach chorales and Christmas carols, as well influenced his musical training. As Langstaff grew old, he became a baritone, and he studied at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and at Julliard in New York. Following college, he realised a successful circuit of the United States and Europe. Langstaff also developed an appreciation of kinsfolk music while attention a concert by birdcall collector Douglas Kennedy, leading to a nonparallel of recordings of folk material in England. Langstaff simultaneously embarked on a instruction vocation, service at the chief teacher of the music department at the Potomac School in Virginia for 13 years and at the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts for six-spot. He also hosted telecasting programs, including "Devising Music" for the BBC and "Children Explore Books" for NBC.
In the mid-1950s, Langstaff brought together his multiple talents to make the Christmas Revels, a theatrical event that combined dance, song, and drama. For divine guidance, he john Drew from pre-Christian celebrations of the solstice, incorporating the death and rebirth themes, and adding a carnival-like ambiance. But spell Langstaff's Revels reminded audiences of the season's origins, he also added a alone wind. Christ, whose death and rebirth mirrored many gentile myths, would too be woven into the Revels as the Lord of the Dance. The first base execution of the Christmas Revels took place at New York City's Town Hall on December 29, 1957. While the event lost money, Langstaff's minute execution at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. took place before a sold-out crowd. In 1971 Langstaff and his daughter revived the Christmas Revels at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, establishing the production as an yearbook affair. Over time, the Christmas Revels would incorporate novel traditions and take in cooccurring productions throughout the United States.
