Christmas cheer for you courtesy of YouTube. You're bound to enjoy at least one.
Handel's Messiah:
Winchester Cathedral Choir: For Unto Us a Child is Born
Sylvia McNair: Rejoice Greatly
Charpentier: Kyrie from Messe de Minuit
Corelli: Christmas concerto
Jessye Norman: Gesu Bambino
Steeleye Span: Gaudete
Vince Guaraldi: O Christmas Tree
Oscar Peterson: Jingle Bells
Nat King Cole: The Christmas Song
Ella Fitzgerald: Sleigh Ride, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Judy Garland: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Sinatra: The Christmas Waltz
Bing and the Andrews Sisters: Jingle Bells, Mele Kalikamaka
Kay Starr: Everybody's Waiting for the Man with the Bag
Frank and Dean: Marshmallow World
Louis Armstrong: Zat You, Santa Claus?
The Frank and Dean Christmas tree
Related:
Have Yourself a Steyny Little Christmas
Stripedy Candy (audio of John Henry Faulk's Christmas story)
Merry Christmas '08
Also from '08: Mark Steyn's Complete Christmas (and Boxing Day) Package [note: some of the Steyn links no longer work]
Most recent posts here.
December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas music
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Pundette,Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas along with a healthy and prosperous new year :>)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas..
ReplyDeleteOh, the weather outside is frightful! And while we're on the subject of Christmas music....
ReplyDeleteI am not a huge fan of popular Christmas music. I love the traditional stuff - Schubert's Ave Maria, for example, I think is the most beautiful piece of music ever composed. But there are a few exceptions: Bing Crosby's White Christmas and Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song are undeniable classics. Bob Dylan's new LP is called Christmas in the Heart. The man can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. It's a wonderful record. He even does a good job with Winter Wonderland - a tune I have always loathed with a passion I can't even describe. Good for you, Uncle Bobby!
But for the most part, popular Christmas music has been known to make me sick to my stomach. One tune in particular is enough to drive me to extreme violence. Dick Wells is a legendary disc jockey and singer. Back in the fifties and sixties he was the vocalist for the Harry James Orchestra. He is also a good friend and an expert on the subject of popular songs. I once had a telephone conversation with him that went like this.
DEGAN: Dick, who wrote, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow?
DICK: Tom, Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne
DEGAN: Are Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne still alive, Dick?
Dick: No, Tom. Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne are both dead.
DEGAN: Good.
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is another "Christmas song" I wish had never been written. I find it amazing and ironic that the root of Gene Autry's extraordinary fortune is based on the fact that he penned this hideously dreadful piece of holiday trash. Gene Autry is also dead. No comment. It's Christmas. Joy to the world.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
Merry Christmas to you all.
ReplyDeleteTom, thanks for the funny anecdote. I once would have agreed with you wholeheartedly about most of the popular Christmas music but in my dotage I'm getting into it. I really like Diana Krall's Let it Snow. I'm still not a fan of Rudolph, though I enjoyed the Steyn version quite a bit. Jingle Bells is pretty moronic but I have a sweet memory of one of my little ones singing it, so that changes everything.
I haven't heard Bob Dylan's Santa Claus is Coming to Town But I'd like to. One reviewer said it might make you want to make sure all your doors and windows are locked.
My nominee for worst Christmas song ever is Paul McCartney's Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time. It's inept and awful, and has the power to stay in your head from Thanksgiving to Easter.
My real favorite Christmas songs, which must be sung at church by many voices, are O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, and Joy to the World. (Also Gesu Bambino on the violin as the priest processes to the creche with the statue of baby Jesus.)
Merry Christmas.