A Christmas Story - Music

Music

The mock heroic tone of the narration, filled with such hyperbole as "the legendary battle of the lamp", is matched by the extensive use of familiar classical music themes. For example, when the character Scut Farkus appears, the Wolf's theme from Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf plays in the background. ("Farkas" is a Hungarian name, but literally means "Wolf") The leitmotifs from Peter and the Wolf are used quite extensively. The piece that plays after Ralphie says "fudge", after the lamp breaks for the second time, and after Ralphie breaks his glasses is the opening of Hamlet by Tchaikovsky. The Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé is featured prominently in the movie. Movement 3 provides a suitable Western feeling to a Red Ryder rifle fantasy sequence, and bits of Movement 1 and Movement 4 were also freely arranged and adapted throughout the score. The music in the dream sequence with Ralphie in a cowboy outfit shooting at bandits and later when he finally plays with his BB gun outside of the house is based on the main theme from the classic John Ford western Stagecoach (1939). The harp solo from Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" is briefly excerpted for the scene in which Ralphie observes a snowy Christmas morning from his bedroom window, which follows a segment of celeste music which comes, again, from the latter half of Movement 3 of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite which plays as Ralphie awakens on Christmas morning. The classroom fantasy scene where Miss Shields is grading Ralph's paper features two excerpts from Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture." Whenever the scene involves the hounds belonging to the Bumpus family, "our hillbilly neighbors", snatches of the American folk tune "Chicken Reel" are heard. During the dream sequence when Ralphie goes blind from soap poisoning, Alphons Czibulka's "Wintermärchen" can be heard. The music when Ralph uses the Orphan Annie decoder is actually a stock music piece from the Associated Production Music library called "Footsteps of Horror" by W. Merrick Farran.

Popular music of the time was also used, ostensibly as coming from the radio. This included three Christmas songs sung by Bing Crosby, two of them in conjunction with the Andrews Sisters. While waiting in line for Santa, the music in the back ground are parts of "Jingle Bells" by Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians from the "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" album on Decca Records. The breakfast scene features Sammy Kaye's version of The Hut-Sut Song quite extensively. Spiritual Christmas songs that appear in the film include "Go Tell It on the Mountain", which is sung by carolers during the opening scene, and "Silent Night," which is heard during the final scene.

The title card and closing credits are accompanied by modified instrumental versions of "Deck the Halls" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," respectively (see album below).

Original music for the film's score was by Carl Zittrer, who worked with director Bob Clark on at least ten films between 1972 and 1998; and by Paul Zaza, who has worked with Clark on at least sixteen films, including Murder by Decree and My Summer Story.