Holiday Cookies & Music Pairings for National Cookie Day!
December 4th is National Cookie Day! At ICAN Radio, we happily take any opportunity to celebrate sweet treats. In case you missed it, December is also packed full of holiday celebrations and cheer. As a melodious twist to this delicious day, we’ve put together music pairings for your favorite holiday cookies. Read on to learn more, and enjoy the feast!
Snickerdoodles + Winter Night (Sleigh Ride)
The warm spice of a Snickerdoodle cookie makes it the perfect treat on a chilly day… or evening. In fact, snickerdoodles would be the ideal snack on a wintry sleigh ride, as portrayed in Frederick Delius’s tone poem, Winter Night (Sleigh Ride). A tone poem is a work for orchestra that tells a story without using words, just music. In this piece, listen for the jingle of the sleigh and the changing landscape as you travel through the snow.
Rugelach + I Have a Little Dreidel
Rugelach is a classic rolled cookie enjoyed during Hanukkah. Rugelach fillings include many different flavors depending on your preferences – fruit jam, cinnamon and sugar, chocolate, and more – which makes this cookie extra fun! As you enjoy these “little twists,” listen to the Hanukkah children’s song, “I Have a Little Dreidel.” Written by Samuel Goldfarb to correspond with the Festival of Lights, this song is a staple of the season whether you celebrate Hanukkah or not!
Sugar Cookies + Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker
Sugar cookies are more delicate in flavor, but that doesn’t make them any less appetizing. Sugar cookies offer a blank canvas for your creativity to shine through frosting and sprinkles. As you decorate your holiday cookies, turn on Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from his famous ballet, The Nutcracker. This dance is sparkly and joyful and perfectly captures the goodness of this classic holiday treat.
Peanut Butter Blossoms + Carol of the Bells
Peanut butter blossoms are a rich and decadent cookie, sparking joy for the chocolate and peanut butter lovers among us. With the Hershey’s Kisses placed on top of the peanut butter cookies, these treats look like little bells. And when combining “bells” and “holiday music,” the “Carol of the Bells” quickly comes to mind. Based on a tune by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych, this speedy carol will match the pace of your impending sugar rush!
Chocolate Crinkles + The Snow is Dancing
Dusted in powdered sugar, chocolate crinkles certainly look like a wintry bake. To accompany the sugar snow flurry, let’s create musical snowflakes by listening to Claude Debussy’s song for piano, “The Snow is Dancing.” Listen for the gentle bursts of snowfall and imagine that they are decorating your chocolatey cookies! Fun fact – Debussy dedicated this song to his daughter, Claude-Emma. Do you think Claude-Emma enjoyed holiday cookies, too?
Gingerbread + Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel
Whether you’re molding houses, people, dinosaurs, or candy canes, gingerbread is a staple of the holidays. And speaking of gingerbread houses, while not strictly a holiday story, the tale of Hansel and Gretel evokes the season’s sweet treats. In Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera, Hansel and Gretel, the two main characters sing this evening prayer while lost in the woods, bringing comfort to a scary situation. By singing this song, Hansel and Gretel summon protection from angels so they can finally get some rest.
Which pairing will you be trying first? Be sure to tag @ican.radio with your delicious creations!
P.S. If cookies aren’t your thing, check out this recipe for delicious brownies!
