A Christmas Playlist
By sheer coincidence, I was asked a few days ago what sort of Christmas music I was listening to this year, just as I was massaging a playlist together for a mix disc I made for myself a few weeks back. So here it is: 23 Christmas songs from my personal Christmas music collection, which consists of about thirty CDs and ten or fifteen vinyl LPs. Most of this music can be purchased from Amazon or eBay as whole CDs; whether you can get it from the online music services is unclear. (I don't use them.) The "Great Songs of Christmas" vinyl LPs were remarkable anthologies given away by Goodyear dealers when you bought tires in the fall. The ones I have are the ones we got in the early 60s, but they were an annual thing from 1961 right into the early 70s. Firestone got into the same business a few years after Goodyear (and I have a couple of those) but they are nowhere near as good. Abundant and cheap on eBay, assuming you still have the hardware to play vinyl!
All of this will fit on a single 80-minute CD-R. Let me know if you find playlists like this useful. I have others.
Carol of the Bells
Windham Hill Artists
My all-time favorite Christmas carol, performed here as the main melody alternating with variations on the melody, by several of Windham Hill's artists, including Liz Story, Andy Narell, Barbara Higbie, and Paul McCandless. From: A Winter's Solstice IV
Sing Hosanna, Alleuia
The New Christy Minstrels
Great hootenanny folker from some of the best voices and best harmonists of the past fifty years, best appreciated by those who were there when hootenanny folkers were first-run.
From: Great Songs of Christmas, #4. (1964 Vinyl)
Christmas in Killarney
Bing Crosby
I'm a thoroughgoing American mongrel, but there's enough Irish in me to appreciate this canonical performance from the soundtrack of White Christmas. Although corny and seriously bass-deprived, it was much beloved of my very South Side Irish grandmother Sade Genevieve Prendergast Duntemann (1892-1965) and I include it here in her memory.
From: White Christmas (Bing Crosby)
The Holly and the Ivy
Alex Di Grassi
A sprightly version of the ancient hymn, without the words (which no one really understands anymore) to slow it down.
From: A Winter's Solstice V
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Ed Ames
Perhaps the single most powerful Christmas lyric ever written, culminating in that magnificent affirmation: "God is not dead nor doth He sleep." As a friend of mine once more crudely put it: "That's the kind of song that makes the Devil crap his pants every time he hears it."
From: Christmas with Ed Ames (1967 vinyl)
We Need a Little Christmas
The New Christy Minstrels
A superb Christmas song from a musical (Mame) that had nothing to do with Christmas!
From: Great Songs of Christmas #3 (1963 Vinyl)
In the Bleak Midwinter
First Call
This obscure carol has in recent years come to be my second favorite, with its melody ("Cranham") by Gustav Holst and words by his friend Christina Rosetti. Good close harmony here. It never fails to bring a tear to my eye. What indeed could I possibly give back to God? Somehow computer books just don't seem to cut it.
From: Beyond December (First Call)
The Man From Caesaria
Friedemann
An arrangement of an ancient and slightly spooky Greek hymn attributed to St. Basil. The Orthodox are Catholics too, and for me this song sacramentally represents their concept of the Great Journey of Theosis, back to unity and wholeness in the Presence of God, where I believe against all denial that everyone and everything will eventually arrive.
From: Narada Christmas Collection
Logs to Burn
Golden Bough
Did you know that holly wood burns like melting wax? Or that cherry wood will scent the room? This is a wood heat user guide that you can sing over a cup of mulled wine. Damned clever, those English.
From: Winter's Dance (Golden Bough)
Christmas Eve
Ira Stein
I don't know why, but this piece (which has no words) suggests for me the watch that little kids of Polish heritage keep for the First Star on Christmas Eve (as my sister and I did) when Vigilia begins, and beyond that all good things that are worth waiting for, no matter how much the waiting makes us ache.
From: Narada Christmas Collection 2
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
The King's Singers
A choral version of perhaps my third-favorite Christmas carol, with rich harmony of a slightly odd sort, which is the trademark of this excellent group.
From: A Little Christmas Music (King's Singers)
Il Est Ne and Immaculate Mary
Liz Story
"He Is Born" (French) in a piano medley with the Mary song we sang maybe a little too much back at Immaculate Conception grade school, especially in May. An odd combo, but it works.
From: The Gift (Liz Story)
Traditions of Christmas
Mannheim Steamroller
Chip Davis decided he wanted to write a classic Christmas carol. I wish I could pull off everything I try as well as he did.
From: A Fresh Aire Christmas (Mannheim Steamroller)
Patapan and Noel Nouvelet
Nancy Rumbel
Two old French hymns done by a superb flutist in a medieval style.
From: Narada Christmas Collection
Song of the Evergreen
Kostia
If Christmas trees had a national anthem, this would be it. Makes me want to stand up and cheer when it's over. (Or maybe yell, "Play Snowball!")
From: Narada Christmas Collection 2
Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine
Simon Wynberg
The slightly dumb lyrics are omitted, leaving a nice old melody about perhaps the least appreciated saint of all. "Stone my wife?" this muscular man asks the Pharisees, with pockets full of awls and chisels, a mallet in one hand and a razor-sharp saw in the other. "Just try it."
From: Narada Christmas Collection 2
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Wayne Gratz
The piano stars in this superb instrumental rendition of my third-favorite carol, with only a little occasional violin for backup. Deeply moving.
From: The Best of Narada Christmas
Three Candles
Schonherz & Scott
Again, it's hard to say just why, but this instrumental piece sounds to me like an emblem of Hope, the most neglected of the Cardinal Virtues. Don't just light one candle. Light 'em all-God will give you as many as you need-and the light will never go out.
From: A Winter's Solstice IV
Wizards in Winter
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
One unauthorized video of a house virtually dancing to this tune probably sold more albums for these guys than anything their label ever did for them. Although there are some hints of The Nutcracker here, I see a gigantic Niagara steam locomotive pounding its way heedlessly through a furious Rocky Mountain blizzard. You can't stop a 4-8-4-not with something as simple as snow!
From: The Lost Christmas Eve (Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
And with that, I'll have to step up the pace on various Christmas things here. See you in a few.