How Much Does He/She Love: Too Much!

By Maureen Buja

In the classic Christmas counting carol, The 12 Days of Christmas, on the 12 days following Christmas, the singer’s ‘true love’ sends him a present each day, plus the present from the day(s) before.

The Twelve Days of Christmas song poster © Wikipedia

The 12 Days of Christmas are the 12 days between the birth of Jesus and the appearance of the Magi, with their kingly-level gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. The present-giving begins on Christmas and continues through to 6 January, traditionally Three Kings’ Day or the Epiphany.

The song first appears in the late 18th century in a book called Mirth With-Out Mischief and is part of a long tradition of memory games and cumulative songs. If you don’t remember the order correctly, you have to pay a forfeit – a kiss or a small present – for your error.

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
a partridge in a pear tree.
Day 2: two turtle doves
Day 3: three French hens
Day 4: four calling birds
Day 5: five gold rings
Day 6: six geese a-laying
Day 7: seven swans a-swimming
Day 8: eight maids a-milking
Day 9: nine ladies dancing
Day 10: 10 lords a-leaping
Day 11: 11 pipers piping
Day 12: 12 drummers drumming

The list was set to many different melodies in its early days, but the melody we are most familiar with dates from the early 20th century, when the English baritone singer and composer Frederic Austin set the words, adding his own touch – the long cadence on 5 gold rings. Austin wrote that this was the setting that was familiar to his family, and he hadn’t heard that melody elsewhere. The song was published in 1909 and lives on today.

Frederic Austin, 1907

Days 1 through 7 are all about birds: a partridge, turtle doves, French hens, and calling birds or colly birds (blackbirds) in some versions. The five gold rings could also refer to ring-necked pheasants, followed by geese and swans.

On day 8, the staff shows up: milkmaids, dancing ladies, leaping lords, pipers, and drummers, although no one appears to be dealing with all the birds!

Whew!

A bank in the US has tracked the prices of all of these presents for the past 40 years, and they make interesting and funny reading. For 2023, your daily cost for being the True Love comes out to:

1 Partridge in a Pear Tree	The price of partridges has remained stable, but the pear tree is now up nearly 14% in price	$319.18
2 Turtle Doves	25% leap in price, the greatest of all the gifts	$750.00
3 French hens	Labour and energy were the price drivers here, but they remain the most affordable of the birds	$330.00
4 Calling birds	No change in price for many years!	$599.96
5 Gold Rings	Price on gold has remained unchanged for the past 5 years	$1,245.00
6 Geese a Laying	Up by 8.3%	$780.00
7 Swans a Swimming	No price change, but one of the most expensive birds in any case	$13,125.00
8 Maids a milking	Payment at the US Federal Minimum Wage makes them most affordable	$58.00
9 Ladies Dancing	After a 10% raise in 2022, no change for 2023	$8,308.12
10 Lords a Leaping	EXPENSIVE! Even more than the swans and up 4% from last year	$14,539.20
11 Pipers Piping	Slight 6.2% rise in piper cost because of the tight labour market	$3,207.38
12 Drummers Drumming	Same rise as the pipers: 6.2%	$3,468.02

Illustration of “five gold rings”, from the first known publication of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (1780) © Wikipedia

What does that all add up to? Well, if you’re giving just one each of everything this year, that’s only $46,729.86 in presents, a rise of only 2.7% over last year’s figure.

If you’re doing the full measure, which would be 12 partridges, 22 turtle doves, 30 French hens, etc., for a total of 364 presents, you’re at over $1.5 million for 12 days of fun. $1,535,405.64, to be exact.

It’s expensive to be whimsical!

The presents total 364, presumably so you have a breathing day before next Christmas when it starts all over again. Starts again, that is, if your love is still speaking to you after having to deal with all those presents from last year!

Merry Christmas!

Hector Berlioz (Born on December 11, 1803) and the Literary Muse

 by Hermione Lai  December 11th, 2025

Hector Berlioz (1803–1869) is often celebrated as one of the most daring and imaginative composers of the Romantic era, a musical visionary whose works still thrill listeners today. With his birthday approaching on December 11, it’s a perfect moment to reflect on the forces that shaped his extraordinary creativity.

August Prinzhofer: Hector Berlioz, 1845

Berlioz’s music is dramatic, colourful, and intensely expressive, often telling stories or painting emotions so vividly they seem to leap off the page. What makes him truly fascinating is the way literature fuelled his imagination.

Writers like Goethe, Shakespeare, and Byron weren’t just influences; they were companions on his artistic journey, inspiring him to explore new forms of musical storytelling and to transform emotion into sound.

To celebrate his birthday on 11 December 1803, let’s explore how these three literary giants shaped his work, and why Berlioz’s music continues to captivate audiences nearly two centuries later.   

When Words Inspired Music

Hector Berlioz

Berlioz grew up during a time when Romanticism was changing the way people thought about art, literature, and music. Romanticism celebrated emotion, imagination, individuality, and the dramatic aspects of life and nature. For Berlioz, literature wasn’t just something to read; it was the spark for musical ideas.

He devoured works from German, English, and French authors, letting their stories, characters, and emotions seep into his mind. In his music, he didn’t just set words to notes but translated the spirit of literature into sound.

Three writers stand out as especially important. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, William Shakespeare, and Lord Byron each offered something unique. Goethe provided psychological insight, Shakespeare inspired dramatic spectacle, and Byron fuelled passionate intensity. These authors helped to shape Berlioz’s bold and innovative musical voice.   

Goethe’s Psychology

Joseph Karl Stieler: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe at age 79, 1828 (Neue Pinakothek)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) fascinated Berlioz with his exploration of human emotion and inner conflict. Goethe’s works often delve into moral dilemmas, personal struggles, and the tension between desire and duty, topics that Berlioz found irresistible.

He was captivated by Goethe’s Faust, with its intense psychological depth and exploration of temptation, ambition, and redemption. In his dramatic legend La Damnation de Faust, the orchestra becomes an extension of Faust’s inner world.

From the brooding tension of Faust’s introspective moment to the fiery intensity of his devilish encounters, the music mirrors the constant struggle between desire and conscience. Melodic motifs reappear throughout the work as Berlioz transforms Goethe’s complex psychological landscape into a living and breathing musical experience.

Just as Goethe blended narrative, reflection, and dialogue in his plays, Berlioz created music where instruments, voices, and motifs interact like characters in a drama. His attention to detail, mood, and pacing reflects Goethe’s meticulous craftsmanship, proving that literature and music can be deeply intertwined.   

Shakespearean Drama

William Shakespeare

If Goethe shaped Berlioz’s inner emotional world, William Shakespeare (1564–1616) inspired his sense of drama and theatricality. Shakespeare’s plays are full of vivid characters, intense emotion, and unexpected twists, all qualities Berlioz sought to bring into music.

Berlioz’s opera Béatrice et Bénédict (1862), based on Much Ado About Nothing, puts the feisty, witty Béatrice and the clever Bénédict at its centre, showing how Shakespeare’s sharp characterisation and playful tension could be transformed into musical drama. Berlioz captures the characters’ personalities, their banter, and the slow-burning romance between them, turning Shakespeare’s comic brilliance into a vivid operatic experience.

In this opera, Berlioz also applies the pacing and tension of Shakespearean drama, making each scene feel like a self-contained story within the larger narrative. The characters are not simply singing; they are living, breathing, and reacting with all the emotional nuance Shakespeare endowed them with.

And just as Shakespeare occasionally introduced supernatural or fantastical elements into his plays, Berlioz infused his music with a sense of imagination and theatricality. In Béatrice et Bénédict, it is Shakespeare’s combination of clever wit, lively romance, and human depth that Berlioz channels to create an opera that feels both intimate and theatrically engaging.   

Byron’s Passion

Lord Byron

Lord Byron (1788–1824) added another layer to Berlioz’s artistic vision. Byron’s poetry was full of intense emotion, larger-than-life heroes, and struggles against fate or society. Berlioz, who was drawn to extreme emotions and dramatic narratives, found in Byron a perfect literary model.

Berlioz was particularly inspired by Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Manfred. The brooding, tormented heroes in these works mirror the intensity found in Berlioz’s music.

The protagonist’s inner turmoil, moral struggles, and encounters with supernatural forces echo the Byronic hero’s emotional and existential battles.

Byron encouraged Berlioz to embrace boldness, not just in story but in music itself. The sweeping melodies, dramatic dynamics, and daring orchestration in Berlioz’s works can be seen as musical equivalents of Byron’s passionate poetry.    

Orchestra as Storyteller

Caricature of Hector Berlioz conducting the orchestra

What makes Berlioz extraordinary is how he translated these literary influences into music. He didn’t simply set texts to notes; he absorbed the ideas and emotions from literature and expressed them through orchestration, harmony, and form.

The idée fixe, the recurring musical theme representing the beloved in the Symphonie fantastique, acts like a literary motif, threading through the narrative and expressing obsession, longing, and despair.

The music tells a story in a way only Berlioz could speak. In his operas and choral works, the orchestra itself becomes a storyteller, painting scenes and moods with remarkable clarity.

Berlioz’s engagement with literature also allowed him to challenge traditional musical structures. Rather than strictly following classical symphonic forms, he let the narrative and emotion dictate the music’s shape, creating works that feel organic, dynamic, and profoundly human.   

Crossing Disciplines

Berlioz’s deep literary connections helped redefine what music could do. He showed that orchestral and operatic works could not only entertain but also convey complex psychology, moral dilemmas, and vivid drama.

Later composers, from Wagner to Mahler, would build on this idea, but Berlioz was among the first to fully realise it in the Romantic era.

His example also demonstrates the power of artistic cross-pollination. Literature and music are often taught as separate disciplines, but for Berlioz, they were inseparable.

By translating the spirit of Goethe, Shakespeare, and Byron into sound, he created music that is intellectually stimulating, emotionally compelling, and endlessly imaginative.

Literature, Passion, and Musical Brilliance

As we approach Hector Berlioz’s birthday on December 11, it’s a perfect time to celebrate not only his genius but the literary forces that inspired it. Goethe offered insight into the human heart, Shakespeare brought drama and theatricality, and Byron fuelled passion and Romantic heroism.

Berlioz took these influences and transformed them into a musical language that speaks directly to our emotions, telling stories with a vividness that few composers have matched.

Nearly two centuries later, his music still surprises, excites, and moves audiences around the world. It is a testament to the power of literature, imagination, and the unique genius of a man who could hear the poetry of words and turn it into unforgettable sound.

Seven of the Best Musical Instrument Museums Around the World

by Emily E. Hogstad  

For classical music lovers, there’s often something deeply moving about seeing instruments once played by the musicians and composers of the past.

Whether it’s a violin crafted by Stradivari, a clavichord from the Baroque era, or a grand piano once played by Chopin, musical instrument museums offer a tangible connection to what can feel like a very intangible art form.

Here are seven of the most fascinating musical instrument museums in the world.

1. Musée de la Musique (Paris, France)

Official website: https://philharmoniedeparis.fr/en/musee-de-la-musique

Musée de la Musique

The Musée de la Musique’s origins date back to the French Revolution, when instruments were gathered from the estates of fleeing aristocrats and given to the Paris Conservatory.

The collection continued to grow over the generations. In 1978, the holdings were transferred from the conservatory to the government.

The first museum spotlighting these instruments opened in 1997. When the Philharmonie de Paris was opened in 2015, the collection was moved into the complex.

Today, the collection numbers over 8,000 items, showcasing musical treasures from the Renaissance to the twentieth century.

When you visit, don’t miss:

• Stradivari’s only surviving pochette (a small stringed instrument)
• The 1708 “Davidoff” and 1716 “Provigny” Stradivari violins
• The 1742 “Alard” Guarneri del Gesù violin
• An octobass
• Early instruments by the inventor of the saxophone, Adolphe Sax
• Pianos played by Liszt and Chopin

2. Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) (Phoenix, Arizona, USA)

Official website: https://mim.org/

Musical Instrument Museum (MIM)

Former Target CEO Bob Ulrich retired in 2008. Two years later, he founded the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.

The collection has grown to 15,000 instruments in a $250 million building. Their goal is to collect instruments from every country in the world; currently, they have instruments from over two hundred.

The museum is designed with different sections for different areas of the world. In the European portion of the museum, there are a number of instruments used to play classical music.

The museum hosts nearly 300 concerts a year in its 300-seat auditorium.

3. Galleria dell’Accademia (Florence, Italy)

Official website: https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it/en/

Galleria dell’Accademia

This museum is best known as the home of Michelangelo’s David, but the building also features an extraordinary collection of musical instruments.

The Galleria dell’Accademia was founded in 1784 by Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II. In 1873, the sculpture David was moved from an outdoor location to the Galleria, making it a prime tourist attraction.

Much later, in 2001, the instrument museum opened. It includes roughly fifty instruments owned by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the Medici family, and the Lorraine family.

This collection includes a tenor viola by Stradivari, a piano by Cristofori (the first piano maker), harpsichords, wind instruments, and even percussion instruments.

There are also paintings of the Medici family with their musicians and stringed instruments.

4. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City, USA)

Official website: https://www.metmuseum.org/departments/musical-instruments

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tucked within one of the world’s most famous art museums is a stunning musical instrument sub-collection.

This collection began in 1880, just ten years after the founding of the museum, with a handful of ancient instruments.

In 1889, a woman named Mary Elizabeth Adams Brown donated nearly three hundred instruments. Over the following decades, she continued collecting them on behalf of the museum. By 1918, the year she died, the museum had acquired over 3500 instruments.

In 2019, the Met opened a remodeled musical instrument gallery. It features six hundred instruments: viols, lutes, wind instruments, string instruments, and more.

The crown jewel of the collection is the earliest known surviving piano, an instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori, dating from 1720.

5. Musikinstrumenten-Museum (Berlin, Germany)

Official website: https://www.museumsportal-berlin.de/en/museums/musikinstrumenten-museum/

Musikinstrumenten-Museum

This collection was founded in 1888 and contains around 3000 musical instruments. Its European instruments date from the sixteenth century to the present day.

The museum features harpsichords, spinets, flutes, and other instruments played by musical royals like Queen Sophie-Charlotte of Prussia and Frederick II.

The website also advertises: “The collection of Naumburg wind instruments, the almost complete instrumentarium of a central German town pipe workshop from around 1600, is outstanding.”

One of the most famous instruments in the collection is the “Mighty Wurlitzer” organ, which has 1228 pipes, making it one of the biggest instruments of its kind in Europe. It also features sound effects like birdsong, thunder, sirens, and more.

6. The National Music Museum (Vermillion, South Dakota, USA)

Official website: https://www.nmmusd.org/

The National Music Museum

The National Music Museum was founded in 1973 on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion (current population: 11,700). Despite the small size of Vermillion, the NMM has become one of the great musical instrument museums in the world.

The museum’s collection began with Arne B. Larson, who was born in Minnesota in 1904. He grew up to become a piano tuner, teacher, and collector. In 1966, he was hired by the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, and he brought his massive musical instrument collection with him.

Highlights of the collection include the earliest surviving grand piano from France (dating from 1781), a virginal from ca. 1520, hundreds of historical band instruments, and a collection of stringed instruments by Stradivari, Amati, Andrea Guarneri, and others. They also own one of the only two surviving Stradivari mandolins.

7. The Cobbe Collection (East Clandon, UK)

Official website: https://www.cobbecollection.co.uk/

The Cobbe Collection

The Cobbe Collection is one of the most remarkable assemblies of historic instruments in the world, and it exists in an eighteenth-century English country house in Surrey.

The setting adds to the atmosphere: visitors can see these instruments in elegant vintage rooms, much as they would have appeared in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Many of the instruments were played by major composers. Highlights of the collection include several pianos that Chopin played while traveling in England, as well as pianos that once belonged to Elgar, Mahler, and even Marie Antoinette!

Conclusion

Whether you’re a professional musician or just a listener who loves music, these museums offer a rare chance to get up close with the instruments that helped shape classical music history.

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