You cannot have Christmas without Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite.  I saw the ballet for the first time last year, and though the dear friend who took me was woefully embarrassed by some of the, er, arrhythmic dancing, I was still quite enchanted (I…did notice btw, but wasn’t too judgmental for once).

I shall not use the entire work, but rather my two favorite pieces from it, “The Waltz of the Flowers” and “Arabian Dance.”

I went through quite a few videos before I found this one performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.  I’m…a little elitist (if you couldn’t tell), and I have the perfect version of this song on iTunes (yep, if you didn’t know I was elitist before now you do per the stereotypes about iPhone users).  The tempo is slow and measured and the harp sounds heavenly as all harps should.

The Arabian Dance is performed by the same.  I love the darkness of the melody.  Need it be said that I am a lover of the forlorn?