Can we talk about Christmas music?
For me, not a December can come and go when the sound of carols doesn’t come cascading into my psyche. I will sing, hum and play music for the entire month. It is the grand accompaniment to my holiday season – and, I have to wonder what it is like to be without this vast collection on which to draw, remember and enjoy. For me, it sets the tone, fills up the experience and brings joy into my heart.
Over the decades since I was in what they used to call grammar school, the one casualty I feel overshadows the season is the loss of the permeating sound and celebration of Christmas carols. When I was a kid, way, way back in the 1950s and 60s we used to be able to learn and sing both secular and religious carols in school. When not in school, we sang in Church. We learned each and every one from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to Silent Night and were expected to know all the words and sing in choir, class or during mass. (I’m afraid to ask my kids how many of the ones on my list they don’t recognize.) I’m not here to advocate for any particular religious or belief persuasion, I’m just saying that there is something sad about not having this repertoire still playing all around us in this season regardless of your religious affiliation. It’s uplifting. Add any broad array of music you like, just don’t toss the old classics if you ask me – there is such an array of evocative music here to enjoy.
My Dad used to sit on the sofa and sing carols on Christmas Eve. He did have a surprisingly acceptable voice and it was the one night during the year that he would connect with what must have been a deep affinity for beautiful music. Sadly, all the rest of the days of the year, this seemed to be zippered up inside of him. He loved to accompany Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Nat King Cole and Ray Charles on tv. Back then there were Christmas Specials on television over a period of several weeks where holiday music was the feature. They were accompanied by a wonderful array of Christmas movies and other classics with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that I’d watch every year – beginning with Top Hat. My Mom used to love to watch the Nick and Nora movies and the Quiet Man. Does anyone know what I am talking about?
Various pieces of classical music must be included in this compendium and I won’t attempt to list them all here mostly because I know them by sound and not by name necessarily – the Nutcracker of course, Handel’s Messiah and a broad array of classical ensembles and carols from Europe. One of my very favorites is the Sussex Carol. They are all well worth exploring if you are so inclined. Thank you to WQXR and Sirius Radio for continuing to bring these pieces onto the radio.
here is just one list of classical pieces: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/classical-music/10-best-pieces-classical-christmas-music/
So, here is a little list, of as many carols as I can remember that we all learned and sang. This is perhaps the greatest holiday legacy to my childhood. I can honestly say I have sung each of these at one time or another. I’m sure I have forgotten many here – so feel free to add to the list. A couple have been recently deemed of questionable taste and appropriateness, but I don’t care. They still exist in my memory and as far as I am concerned, I doubt if there was any dubious intent involved. Pick your own favorites – and play them in the car, house and in your head as I do. Go ahead and belt them out. And, if you’re like me, don’t mind the questionable looks when you go into Best Buy and ask where the section of CDs is……….. Enjoy!
Jingle Bells
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Silent Night
Away in a Manger
Joy to the World
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Do You Hear What I Hear
Carol of the Bells
Sussex Carol
Sleigh Ride
Let it Snow
The Christmas Song
Good King Wenceslas
O Holy Night
Drummer Boy
White Christmas
I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Frosty the Snowman
Santa Baby
Blue Christmas
Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
A Holly Jolly Christmas
Winter Wonderland
Feliz Navidad
Wonderful Christmas Time
All I Want for Christmas is You
We Need a Little Christmas
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
Christmas Time is Here
We Three Kings of Orient Are
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
What Can I Give Him
O Come All Ye Faithful
Twelve Days of Christmas
Little Drummer Boy
Angels We Have Heard on High
Carol of the Bells
Do You Hear What I Hear
The First Noel
Go Tell it On the Mountain
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Here We Come a Wassailling
The Holly and the Ivy
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
O Come O Come Emmanuel
What Child is This
The First Noel
Jolly Old St. Nicholas
Have a Holly Jolly Christmas
There’s No Place Like Home for the Holidays
Silver Bells
Here Comes Santa Claus
Wonderful Christmastime
Up on the Housetop
Mistletoe and Holly
and of course, Please Christmas Don’t Be Late (Me, I Want a Hoola Hoop)
So, please send me additions to this list, go ahead and buy a great book of carols in your favorite used book store. Sing, dance and play in the snow or not. Go to a performance, a religious ceremony or just carol away with friends or in the shower! I’m wishing you all a song in your heart for Christmas. No one can take this gift of tradition away from you no matter what your circumstances this year. And, if you are strapped for cash for gifts this year, you can pick up a Christmas CD in Best Buy for $5.99. They still play in cars and on your old home CD player, no matter how passé they are!
a couple of photos from the archives:
