MUSIC heard in RS European Christmas special and others?

I would contact the Webmaster directly and ask, Colin. If there is some kind of agreement between RS and music publishers that prohibits disclosure of the music, it would probably be a bit awkward for RS, at the very least, to post that information here.

You can email him directly at [email protected].

Have you checked the product description page of the CD in the online store here? Look under what’s included

https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/christmas-cd

GerryM, there may be a better place, which is why I asked for specific feedback from the admins regarding the rules here. However, I had to reach out HERE first, since there is no better place to reach Rick fans directly. I’m open to ideas, provided I could reach other fans who might be interested. Otherwise, there’s no point.

Mardee, again, this is why I’m reaching out and asking for feedback from the admins instead of just posting my findings without inquiring about the rules.

Rocket, trust me…I own the CD and I know it front to back. The music included on it is only a fraction of what’s in the special (some of the pieces on the CD aren’t even in the special). I’m talking about everything ELSE that’s in the special but NOT on the CD. There are dozens of short connecting pieces, mostly instrumental, many of which are likely from the APM libraries.

What I’m looking for is A GOOD PLACE and way to share my music findings with other fans who have wished for a way to get this info…but in a way that conforms to all rules and permissions, yet is still located where it’s easily accessible to other Rick fans.

Thanks and let’s keep this inquiry active!

Re the Christmas CD, that's fairly cut and dry. We list the songs on the CD. And here: https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/christmas-cd {edit: Rocket got there first!}

For music used in the TV shows... good luck! As noted, it all comes from music libraries and are typically otherwise unpublished or unlisted. As such, RSE will not be listing them. Sorry that I can't be more helpful there.

If you do identify a piece of music from the TV show, and if you find that you can listen to it or purchase it somewhere (YouTube, Spotify, etc), then I'll assume that track specifically is publicly available outside of the music libraries we use. Aka, it's OK to indicate that publicly available music in our forum. Otherwise we should respect the privacy of the music creator and provider.

There is actually a forum section for TV episodes, though we don't link to it from the main part of the forum as it's not Q&A or relating to tips/trip reports. You can get to it from our main Watch the TV Show page (from the homepage). Or, it's here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tv-episodes

I've made the RS TV Shows section available from the broader Tips & Trip Reports area of the forum. Maybe this will help that section have some life. :)

thanks Andrew

👍

I've made the RS TV Shows section available from the broader Tips & Trip Reports area of the forum. Maybe this will help that section have some life. :)

That's a very good idea! Thanks!

Hey, wait a minute? Is that an emoji? I guess rank has it's privileges. ;-)

Ok, so what I'm reading from your helpful responses here is that any music that is commercially available (or was, but is now out of print and/or not available digitally or on YouTube) is fair game. Basically, if I could find it, it's allowed. Since the Christmas special is 20 years old now, many of the music cues (outside of the ones included on the official RS CD, which I do NOT need) are just older and their owners have apparently not brought them into the digital age, unfortunately. I was able to identify some song titles by melody, but couldn't find a specific artist or version, for example. From the guidelines that the webmaster has laid out, I believe that if I list my findings here on this forum, it'll be fine, and hopefully help others who have been trying to identify the music NOT included on the CD...and trust me, there's a lot of it!

I did notice, however, that the version of RS European Christmas on YouTube (linked to from the videos page on this very site) has at least one scene in the middle of the program that's been edited out. It's the scene where a bunch of guys in France (Burgundy, I think) are cutting firewood for the season, then they take a break and eat their campfire-cooked meal of duck, roasted potatoes and bacon, with red wine. It's around 29:00 on the counter (of the Blu-ray, not the YT version) and features a very cool gypsy-sounding (possibly Middle Eastern-tinged) piece that I CANNOT for the life of me identify. BUT, that scene DOES appear on the official Blu-ray. It immediately precedes the scene where the female mayor of a small Burgundian village makes the rounds giving Christmas gifts of seasonal food and wine to her elderly constituents. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this discrepancy. It should also be noted that this odd YT exclusion affects the approximate counter markings (denoting where each piece of music is found) from my findings list, which will have to be revised to include this.

Hoping this helps other frustrated music-lovers and song-searchers! I will post the Cue List in a separate reply as soon as I can revise and correct it.

Very interesting thread here -- much appreciated! I've been watching (and re- re- re-watching) the European Christmas special for many years now, and have adopted many music pieces from it for my favored listening over all that time at the holidays. I too enjoy the "friends in the woods" scene as one of the best of the production, and it is interesting to read the comment that it's not in the online version (I only watch it on the DVD, so always see it). The music is nice, but as it's incidental, not sure it could be captured in CD form. It is quite mellow and appropriate for that part of the DVD; best of luck to you in your search.

Several of my DVD faves are on the CD - except for one, and this is the source of my own inquiry. The French a capella group "Phonema"'s tracks on the DVD and CD are all outstanding, but the first one used in the show where the narrative first cuts to Burgundy is a mesmerizing chant-song that is one of my top "likes" (prob 13th century, as some of their other selections). It starts with a few of the female singers walking down the balcony-corridors in the cathedral to join the rest of their company in what might be considered a choir-loft, then cuts eventually to tranquil countryside scenes in the fields, over the same music piece. This could even qualify as a video accompanying the dictionary entry for "meditation" - or "enchantment".

If any of the commenters here (Colin, perhaps? or the web-meister) could come up with the name of that piece, it might at least be located in a catalog somewhere. It's possible the RS folks may have these references, or even possibly the recording (still). It was only after some years that I thought to look up the group online, but couldn't at first figure out that their web site was "phonema.fr" and not "phonema.com". By that time, they had moved on to doing -- a -- Beatles revue!! Uh, well, whatever.... they had moved on from the medieval... As of this evening (after watching the DVD again!), I have found that "phonema.fr" is no longer registered, and there is some other (very young) vocal group using that name now, singing more modern numbers.

Any leads on ID'ing this music cut from the DVD would be excellent...