My Favourite Time of Year
Encyclopedia
My Favourite Time of Year is a Christmas song performed by The Florin Street Band which was written and sung by British composer Leigh Haggerwood
in 2010. His aim was to create a song with strong melodies that would match the classics, and bring back the Christmas magic that he felt had been missing from the UK charts for decades. Haggerwood was disappointed by the yearly non-festive songs released by X Factor finalists, and the protests that ensued which seemed more concerned with spiting Simon Cowell
than bringing back Christmas songs. When writing the song, he recalled his own childhood in the early 80's when songs like Fairytale of New York
were released, and the soundtrack to Christmas was always something to look forward to. My Favourite Time of Year evolves around a catchy, carol-like melody which weaves up and down the major scales of Eb and Bb. The feel-good song is piano-led with instrumentation that includes many traditional Christmas elements such as Orchestral chimes, choral harmonies and beautiful string lines. It reaches a powerful climax at the final chorus, which many describe as giving them goose bumps.
at Ironbridge Museum's in Shropshire was chosen as the location; an authentic recreation of Victorian life in the UK with it's perfect Victorian street which would later become Florin Street. As the project evolved, respected Cinematographer John Perez
- known for his work on Coldplay's Viva La Vida and videos by Beyoncé and Rihanna - offered his services. Over 100 cast and crew gathered for the overnight shoot at Blists Hill in October 2010, and due to the tight budget, the video had to be shot relatively quickly. Leigh recalls that he couldn’t sleep for three days before the shoot due to his worries over the possibility of rain washing the snow away, and his inexperience of singing into cameras. But the weather was mild and as the snow fell, the mood on set turned into a party atmosphere with people describing it as like being inside a Christmas card, and all of his fears were allayed.
, contacted Leigh in the summer of 2011 to discuss the possibility of using the song as the theme to the channel's new Christmas Charity appeal Text Santa
. The project aims to raise money and awareness for those vulnerable during the festive season, and the producers felt that My Favourite Time of Year was the perfect match for the project. Leigh liked the concept and was keen to work with ITV to re-version the music for primetime TV by arranging it into theme tunes and underscores - something familiar to Leigh with his background in creating music for media. Impressed by the charities the project supports, Leigh decided to donate all UK download profits from the 2011 release, to the nine Text Santa charities and Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
.
Leigh Haggerwood
Leigh Haggerwood is a contemporary composer based in London. He specializes in songwriting, keyboards, singing, music production, audio engineering and sound-to-picture scoring...
in 2010. His aim was to create a song with strong melodies that would match the classics, and bring back the Christmas magic that he felt had been missing from the UK charts for decades. Haggerwood was disappointed by the yearly non-festive songs released by X Factor finalists, and the protests that ensued which seemed more concerned with spiting Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
than bringing back Christmas songs. When writing the song, he recalled his own childhood in the early 80's when songs like Fairytale of New York
Fairytale of New York
"Fairytale of New York" is a song by the Irish rock group The Pogues, released in 1987 and featuring the British singer Kirsty MacColl. The song is an Irish folk style ballad, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan, and featured on The Pogues' album If I Should Fall from Grace with God...
were released, and the soundtrack to Christmas was always something to look forward to. My Favourite Time of Year evolves around a catchy, carol-like melody which weaves up and down the major scales of Eb and Bb. The feel-good song is piano-led with instrumentation that includes many traditional Christmas elements such as Orchestral chimes, choral harmonies and beautiful string lines. It reaches a powerful climax at the final chorus, which many describe as giving them goose bumps.
The Florin Street Band
Leigh Haggerwood's vision for the song included a Victorian-themed band. After several years of pitching the concept to major labels, who wouldn't compete with the X Factor, he eventually decided to fund it himself using his personal savings. He contacted his session musician friends and employed their services to record the song at Trevor Horn's Sarm studios in London, England. He also hired The English Chamber Choir to perform the choral parts, and the song was recorded over seven days in August 2010. The large ensemble of musicians was collectively named The Florin Street Band and many of the musicians that performed on the recording also appeared in the music video.Victorian Music Video
Leigh's original vision for the song included a music video set in Victorian England – a time when Christmas was less commercial and many of our traditions first began. He imagined a working class man walking through snow-lined streets looking in on the festivities, and after a long search, he eventually discovered British director Nick Bartleet who shared his vision and was keen to help make it a reality. Blists Hill Victorian TownBlists Hill Victorian Town
Blists Hill is an open air museum, one of ten museums operated by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England...
at Ironbridge Museum's in Shropshire was chosen as the location; an authentic recreation of Victorian life in the UK with it's perfect Victorian street which would later become Florin Street. As the project evolved, respected Cinematographer John Perez
John Pérez
John A. Pérez is a union organizer and politician from Los Angeles, California, who has been the Speaker of the California State Assembly since March 1, 2010. A Democrat, he represents the 46th district in the California State Assembly.-Early life and career:Pérez grew up in El Sereno and Highland...
- known for his work on Coldplay's Viva La Vida and videos by Beyoncé and Rihanna - offered his services. Over 100 cast and crew gathered for the overnight shoot at Blists Hill in October 2010, and due to the tight budget, the video had to be shot relatively quickly. Leigh recalls that he couldn’t sleep for three days before the shoot due to his worries over the possibility of rain washing the snow away, and his inexperience of singing into cameras. But the weather was mild and as the snow fell, the mood on set turned into a party atmosphere with people describing it as like being inside a Christmas card, and all of his fears were allayed.
Public Response
Leigh knew that without record company backing it would be very difficult to promote the song. Mainstream radio stations were resistant to airing the record because "it wasn't coming from a major label" which is often their somewhat misguided benchmark. However, the song and video received an incredible public response through Youtube and social networking websites and quickly gained support and numerous Facebook campaigns. It's initial release on December 6th 2010 peaked at 14 in the Indie breakers chart, and this was considered a great achievement considering the lack of media support. This proved to be the beginning of much larger developments in 2011 when the song began to receive significant attention. In August 2011, The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own" requested permission to arrange the song for their annual Christmas concerts at the DAR Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., a rare honour for a modern Christmas song. My Favourite Time of Year was requested for use in popular TV and radio shows and Leigh received thousands of requests to perform it from schools, Choirs, orchestras, churches, theatrical productions and youth groups. The song has also gained a number of celebrity supporters including Jamie Oliver, Ryan Seacrest, Philip Schofield and Christine Bleakley.Text Santa
Producers at the UK's biggest commercial TV network, ITVITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, contacted Leigh in the summer of 2011 to discuss the possibility of using the song as the theme to the channel's new Christmas Charity appeal Text Santa
Text Santa
Text Santa is a charity initiative set up in 2011 to support 9 UK charities at Christmas.The appeal to the public will be to donate money mainly via text donation and profits from merchandise....
. The project aims to raise money and awareness for those vulnerable during the festive season, and the producers felt that My Favourite Time of Year was the perfect match for the project. Leigh liked the concept and was keen to work with ITV to re-version the music for primetime TV by arranging it into theme tunes and underscores - something familiar to Leigh with his background in creating music for media. Impressed by the charities the project supports, Leigh decided to donate all UK download profits from the 2011 release, to the nine Text Santa charities and Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages 35 historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution....
.