Favorite Christmas Song of All Time: Silent Night and the Classics

I'm a music buff. I like all the Christmas songs, especially those I learned to sing in glee during middle and high school. But my favorite is still "Silent Night." Maybe it's because I'm a night owl, staying up until the wee hours of the morning. Maybe it's because any time it would snow I would brew up hot chocolate, dress warmly and walk the streets at night, putting down the first footprints. The thing about Silent Night, is it's about a mother, her husband, having her first baby someplace where she's never been. She's tired, they're rejected at the hotel. It tells the Christian story of the holiday, but it tells it with emotion. Quiet, sad, full of awe, and easy to sing.

All the other music I like for Christmas are songs I sing around the house, or luckily my husband, an amateur musician, plays on the keyboard, violin or harmonica. I bought the music to many of the Christmas classics in "A Treasury of Christmas Carols". Or we play the classics or some modern collections. Probably a close runner up to Silent Night is We Three Kings, partly because I danced the part of one of the kings in a ballet and played it endlessly. Partly because I learned all the verses.

Most of the music we play during the holidays is symphonic by one of the classics. One of the reason's we like to go to the Seattle Symphony is Gerard Schwarz introduces us to some of our favorite music, especially for the holidays. One of the reasons I know that Silent Night is still a favorite is we just attended the "Delights of the Holiday Season" and heard a piece by Samuel Barber called "Die natali, Choral Preludes for Christmas, Op. 37" which starts out like a depressed 1930's big band piece that alternates with fantasy dreams of Christmas and right in the middle all becomes quiet and the bassoon plays this deep bit of Silent Night and brought tears to my eyes. Others we've picked up from Gerard Schwartz and recorded by him include "Cornet Favorites" and "The Classic Trumpet Concerti of Haydn/Hummel". Others we like include Maurice Andre's Trumpet Concertos, Bach's Brandenburg Concerti, and Vivaldi's Four Seasons and other pieces. It doesn't hurt to drive back through the gorgeously decorated streets of Seattle afterward. See picture 1.

Others Selected For Joyousness

I still remember the year my brother fell off the church pew during midnight mass because he had fallen asleep. He was only two or three. The clunk was loudly discernible throughout the church and everyone looked around. My brother blinked and crawled back up, looking dazed. Then the choir hit "Joy to the World" on trumpets and he howled. I guess he hadn't realized he was awake until then. Anyway, Joy to the World is wonderful. Little Drummer Boy, Winter Wonderland.

Here's my complete list of music and songs that I like during the holiday season.

For Quiet Contemplation:

Silent Night, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Do You See What I See, What Child is This? O Come, O Come Emmanuel, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, Hark the Herald Angel Sings

More Modern:

Pretenders "2000 Miles" because I like the sadness of separated love and Loreena McKennitt's "To Drive the Cold Winter Away" just because she sings so beautifully. I always remember "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" because I thought that that was so horrid of her until I realized who Santa really was. And of course, Jingle Bell Rock.

In all, I think music makes the mood and the spirit of Christmas. Nothing helps bring you close to the season, the cold, the awe, the joyousness at light than a tune played or sung well.