Inspiration—that elusive lightning strike that aids in the creation of novels, symphonies, and the most beautiful works of art. I’m sure all of us can relate to that classic image of the tortured writer, up at 3:00 AM with nothing but a blank page in front of them. No matter what the medium, it isn’t easy to find that spark that sets your idea in motion. For some, the best ideas come from the people around them.

Today, we’re going to take a trip down memory lane and appreciate the muses that inspired some of the best composers of their era.

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Beethoven and the everyday hero

A man who needs no introduction, Beethoven is regarded as one of the most influential composers of all time. His Symphony No. 3, commonly known as the “Eroica” Symphony, has been considered the point at which Western classical music began to transition into the Romantic Era. Part of what made Symphony No. 3 so revolutionary was the first inklings of what would later be called programmatic music. Unlike typical compositions from the Classical Era, programmatic music is a type of instrumental music that tells a story. Famous examples are Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture or Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique.

The Eroica Symphony didn’t yet have a cohesive story to tell, but rather communicated a feeling, an idea that stirred the audience to think of triumph and freedom. In the beginning, Beethoven was inspired by Napoleon Bonaparte. To many, Napoleon embodied the sentiments of democracy and justice that permeated the French Revolution. Considering himself a “free spirit,” Beethoven felt a kinship with Napoleon that fueled his composition. However, upon hearing that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor of France, the furious Beethoven cried out, “So he is no more than a common mortal! Now, too, he will tread under foot all the rights of Man…” He promptly scratched out his dedication and renamed the symphony in honor of the everyday hero.

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Robert Schumann and the incomparable Clara Schumann

Clara Schumann was one of the most distinguished musicians of the Romantic Period. An incredible pianist, teacher, and composer, she also inspired a flurry of compositions. Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, and Johannes Brahms all dedicated works to her. When she met her future husband, Robert Schumann, Clara had already made a name for herself touring across Europe. Robert was one of her father’s piano students, and throughout the years, he developed an affection for Clara that resulted in the frequent exchange of love letters.

Once her father caught wind of their affair, he promptly kicked Robert to the curb and sent Clara on tour to separate the young lovers. Despite many attempts by Robert to win him over, Clara’s father continued to refuse to consent to their marriage. In the end, the case went to court, where the judge ruled in favor of the couple. They were married in September of 1840, the day before Clara’s 21^st birthday. The following year, Robert wrote his fourth symphony and dedicated it to Clara, although it was later revised and rededicated to their mutual friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. While one might feel confused by the change, Clara had gone on record to say she strongly preferred the second version.

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Richard Wagner and his gift to Cosima Wagner

Richard Wagner was an imposing figure credited with revolutionizing opera and changing theatre as we know it. One would be forgiven for believing this titan of history was more myth than man. However, he was hounded by many romantic debacles throughout his life. These failed relationships culminated in his invitation to Cosima von Bülow and her husband, Hans von Bülow, to Wagner’s home in Switzerland. Cosima, the daughter of pianist and fellow composer, Franz Liszt, arrived a few days before her husband. Thus started a love affair that would persist for the rest of Wagner’s life.

The then-married Wagner did not publicly pursue Cosima, but they continued seeing each other in secret. She even gave birth to two of his illegitimate daughters. In the end, Cosima divorced Hans in 1863, shortly after the death of Wagner’s first wife. She promptly moved in with Wagner, followed by their children. In 1869, he composed Siegfried Idyll as a gift to Cosima in celebration of the birth of their son. The sweet, tender piece was first performed Christmas morning on the stairs of their villa, letting Cosima awaken to its opening melody.

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Edward and Alice Elgar’s guessing game

On the evening of October 21^st, 1898, an exhausted and exasperated Edward Elgar sat down at his piano. He had hoped that playing would help raise his spirits, but little did he know he would stumble upon the melody that would inspire one of the greatest pieces of the 19^th century. During his mindless playing, his wife, Alice, exclaimed, “Edward, that’s a good tune.” Awakened from his daydream, he played the tune again and saw potential.

In the coming weeks, Elgar would manipulate and shift the melody to imitate his friends, family, and neighbors. Alice listened, endlessly entertained, and tried to guess who he was mimicking. These moments between them would become the groundwork for his orchestral work, Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, more commonly called the “Enigma Variations.” Elgar dedicated the work “to my friends pictured within” and prefaced each of the 14 variations with the initials, name, or nickname of the friend depicted.

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More Musical Relationships to Explore

• Love Stories – A More Intimate Look
• Musical Friendships
• Cats In Classical Music

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All Classical Radio’s Festival of Carols returns once more with four days of cherished seasonal music from cultures around the world, curated to lift your spirit and warm your heart. Each December, our Program Director, John Pitman, selects twelve pieces from our extensive Festival of Carols library for a deep dive into their origins. Over the past several years, we’ve explored holiday classics on the Arts Blog, such as “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,” “O Tannenbaum,” and “Silent Night.” We’ve also expanded our exploration of carols to cover several centuries, origins, languages, and even holidays beyond Christmas. This year, we’re covering carols written as far back as the 12^th century, as recently as the 1960s, in addition to a beloved Hanukkah tune.  

Be sure to tune in to our 2025 Festival of Carols on All Classical Radio from December 22^nd-25^th! Learn more about All Classical Radio’s Holiday Programming.

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The Little Drummer Boy

Written in 1941 by American composer Katherine Davis, The Little Drummer Boy was initially titled “Carol of the Drum.” Inspired by the French carol, Patapan, Davis’s Christmastime tune also evokes the sound of a drum in celebration of Jesus’s birth. As a music educator, Davis wrote many of her compositions for choirs at the schools where she taught, including The Little Drummer Boy. A decade later, the Trapp Family Singers (yes, the same family immortalised in The Sound of Music) recorded the carol to widespread acclaim. In 1958, a successful recording by the Harry Simeone Chorale brought Davis’s song to households around the world.

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Adam lay ybounden

The words of the English carol, Adam lay ybounden (Adam was bound), come from an anonymous source of the 15th century. No contemporary musical setting survives. The poetry recounts the Fall of Man from the Book of Genesis, though it ends on a positive note: “Blessed be the time that apple taken was! Therefore we may singen Deo gratias!” Many English composers have written their own versions of the carol, including Peter Warlock, John Ireland, and Benjamin Britten. We are going to listen to Boris Ord’s 1955 version, which has since been a staple of the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. Ord was a beloved choir director at the institution from 1929-57.

Tune in to All Classical Radio on Wednesday, December 24^th at 7:00 AM PT to listen to this year’s live broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge.

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Jul, jul, strålande jul

Known as “Christmas, Christmas, glorious Christmas” in English, this Swedish carol is one of the best-known seasonal songs in Scandinavia. Written by composer Gustaf Nordqvist in 1921, with lyrics by priest and author Edvard Evers, Jul, jul, strålande jul describes a wintry white Christmas and the opportunity for peace that this season brings. The graceful lilt of the melody beautifully accompanies Evers’s poetry, evoking images of silent, snow-filled evenings. Originally composed as a piece for solo voice, this carol has since been arranged for various choral ensembles, both accompanied by instruments and a cappella.

Follow along with an English translation of the Swedish poetry here.

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I Wonder as I Wander

Attributed to American composer John Jacob Niles, I Wonder as I Wander is based on a song fragment Niles heard while traveling through Appalachian North Carolina in 1933. Niles devoted his musical career to collecting and transcribing folk songs, in addition to researching folk instruments. In an unpublished autobiography, the composer noted the following about his experience encountering a little girl named Annie Morgan singing:

“[Annie] sang the first three lines of the verse of ‘I Wonder As I Wander.’ At twenty-five cents a performance, I tried to get her to sing all the song. After eight tries, all of which are carefully recorded in my notes, I had only three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material—and a magnificent idea.”

Niles published I Wonder as I Wander in his collection of Songs of the Hill-Folk.

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Maoz Tzur

Maoz Tzur (Rock of Ages) is a well-known Hebrew liturgical poem sung during Hanukkah celebrations. The text, dating from as early as the 12^th century, tells a brief history of the Jewish people and all they have overcome. While we don’t know its original musical setting, the hymn is now most commonly associated with a melody from a 15th-century German folksong. As to the poem’s author, historians speculate that the first letters of the first five stanzas form an acrostic of the author’s name, Mordechai, though we don’t know much more than that.

In the recording below, you’ll hear Maoz Tzur sung in both Hebrew and then in English.

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I Saw Three Ships

I Saw Three Ships is a traditional English Christmas carol from the 17th century. The joyful, dancelike melody is paired with perplexing lyrics that tell of the arrival of three ships in (landlocked) Bethlehem, leading many to wonder what event this carol may be referring to. One theory holds that these were the ships that transported the relics of the Magi to the Cathedral of Cologne in the 12th century. Another theory is that the ships represent the camels (or desert ships, if you will) carrying the Magi through the desert to visit the baby Jesus. The original text has undergone several variations over the centuries, so it’s possible that something was quite literally lost in translation.

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Lulajże Jezuniu

Lulajże Jezuniu, one of Poland’s most famous Christmas carols, translates to “Hush, little Jesus.” In fact, the word “Lulajże” specifically refers to rocking a child to sleep, which conveys the carol’s overall tone. This tender, loving lullaby humanizes the relationship between Mary and the baby Jesus — it’s simply a mother rocking her newborn to sleep. Although not officially confirmed, many believe the carol dates to the 17th century. If the melody sounds familiar, it may be because Chopin references it in the slow section of Scherzo No. 1 in b minor, Op. 20.

You will find an English translation of the Polish poetry here.

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O Jesulein süss, o Jesulein mild!

O Little One sweet, O Little One mild is a short and sweet 17th-century carol from Germany with anonymous origins. The carol was first arranged by Samuel Scheidt and later by J. S. Bach, who preserved Scheidt’s melody but elaborated on the harmonization in a style more typical of the Baroque era. The gentle, rocking melody evokes peaceful imagery of worshiping at the crib of the baby Jesus, a common theme in sacred music for the season.

Follow along with an English translation of the German text here.

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I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

A carol with many musical settings, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day is based on the poem, “Christmas Bells,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Longfellow wrote the piece on Christmas Day 1863 amid the horrors of the American Civil War, an event reflected in the poem’s narrative. While some stanzas acknowledge the despair felt throughout the country, the final verse ends on a hopeful note: “Then pealed the bells more loud and deep / God is not dead, nor doth He sleep / The Wrong shall fail / The Right prevail / With peace on earth, goodwill to men.”

Below, you will hear a musical arrangement of the carol by English composer and choirmaster Sir Philip Ledger. You can read Longfellow’s poem in its entirety here.

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There Is No Rose of Such Virtue

Also written as “Ther is no rose of swych vertu,” this Medieval English Christmas Carol has anonymous origins dating from around 1420. The reference to Mary as a rose was a common association during the Middle Ages, appearing in several hymns and carols, including Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E’er-Blooming).

You are likely to hear several different versions of this carol. Several composers have taken the original text and arranged the music, including John Joubert and Benjamin Britten. We’d like to highlight the original version with the 15th-century melody. As you listen, you’ll hear the singers return to the first phrase, “There is no rose of such virtue as is the rose that bare Jesu,” multiple times. Using the first verse of a carol as the refrain was common for the time.

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I Sing of a Maiden

I Sing of a Maiden also comes from the hand of an anonymous English 15th-century author. While we know that the poem was intended to be sung, no musical setting from the period has survived. The poetry celebrates the Annunciation and imminent birth of Jesus, with an overarching tone of introspection and grace. Many composers have set modernized versions of this Medieval text to music, including Gustav Holst, Benjamin Britten, John Rutter, and Peter Warlock. We will listen to a setting by Patrick Hadley, written in 1936, that beautifully pairs with the meditative mood of the poetry.

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Do You Hear What I Hear?

Created in the early ‘60s by songwriting duo Gloria Shayne (Baker) & Noel Regney, who were also married at the time, Do You Hear What I Hear? was composed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The lyrics, inspired by the Nativity story, took on an additional meaning amid the threat of nuclear war, with the final stanza stating, “Pray for peace, people everywhere.” Do You Hear What I Hear? was originally recorded by the Harry Simeone Chorale (the same group that helped popularize The Little Drummer Boy). Bing Crosby released a solo version a year later, making the song a massive success. Currently, there is no shortage of arrangements of the carol in a wide variety of musical styles.

Fun fact – Shayne and Regney also wrote the popular children’s tune, “Rain, Rain, Go Away.”

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Keep the Celebration Going

Read about more favorites from the Festival of Carols in previous years’ editions of “The Stories of Twelve Carols”:

• 2024 Stories, including Patapan and Gabriel’s Message
• 2023 Stories, including Still, still, still and While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
• 2022 Stories, including O Holy Night and In the Bleak Mid-Winter
• 2021 Stories, including The Carol of the Bells and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• 2020 Stories, including The Holly and the Ivy and The Coventry Carol
• 2019 Stories, including Joy to the World and Silent Night

Tune in to All Classical Radio starting December 22^nd to hear your favorites played on air, and learn about the full scope of our 2025 holiday programming here. Happy listening!

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