John Meredith "Jack" Langstaff (December 24, 1920 – December 13, 2005), a concert baritone, and early music revivalist was the founder of the tradition of the Christmas Revels, as well as a respected musician and educator. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music as well as

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

. Langstaff's lifelong project, the Christmas Revels, began in 1957 with a show in New York. In 1971 began the longest-running Revels, at

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

. The Revels, an eclectic mix of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and modern music and dance (primarily English in basis), involves the audience and the community in a continuation of pagan and older Christian traditions. Revels shows, now spread over the USA and the world, draw on local talent.

Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may ...

mummers Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers (also by local names such as ''rhymers'', ''pace-eggers'', ''soulers'', ''tipteerers'', ''wrenboys'', and ''galoshins''). ...

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

rs and large choruses of men, women and children celebrate the turning of the

Winter Solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

in a cheerful fashion. Throughout his adult life, Langstaff was a dedicated music educator. In 1955 he became the music director at The Potomac School in Washington, DC, and later taught at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He wrote twenty-five books, including the

Caldecott Medal The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Servic ...

-winning '' Frog Went A-Courtin'''. He hosted the BBC-TV Schools programme ''Making Music'' for five years, and produced a series of videos called ''Making Music with John Langstaff'' for parents and teachers. He also published songbooks, teacher's guides, and production guides for the Revels. In the later 1970s and early 1980s, Jack, as he was addressed by some, was associated with the Young Audiences organization in the United States, which creates and presents performance arts in educational settings. Langstaff was Executive Director of Young Audiences of Massachusetts, and collaborated with many cultural, educational, health and community organizations in the Greater Boston area and New England. Langstaff's recording career was varied and long. Beginning with English traditional music in the 1950s, he continued with the founding of Revels Records, recording primarily children's and traditional music. Several of his early recordings were made in London with noted producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

. In 1943 Langstaff married

Diane Hamilton Diane Hamilton was the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim (1924 – 1991), an American mining heiress, folksong patron and founder of Tradition Records. Personal life The only child of millionaire Harry Frank Guggenheim, president of ''Newsday'' and o ...

. They divorced in 1947. He was later married to Nancy Woodbridge, a pianist. Langstaff died on December 13, 2005, of a stroke. On May 17, 2006 David Nath's documentary film ''To Drive The Dark Away'', which chronicles Langstaff's life and work with the Christmas Revels, had its world premiere in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History European colonists settled the Town of Arlington in 1635 as a village w ...

References

External links

John Langstaff Page from New York Revels siteJohn Langstaff page
from Revels Inc. site

(unofficial site by Sheldon Brown) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langstaff, John 1920 births 2005 deaths American baritones American male conductors (music) American folk musicians Culture of Boston Musicians from Boston 20th-century American singers Classical musicians from Massachusetts 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male singers

See also

References

External links