A Very Birdwoman Christmas

The lights, the feel of the air, the sounds – no matter how much commercial America tries to ruin it, there’s still something very special about the Christmas season.

For me, it’s a time of contemplation – the Thanksgiving season is more what it should be called. It’s that time, at night, just before you go to sleep, when the house is quiet and warm, and the bed is comfortable, and the dog is snoozing next to the kids… this is a time to realize what you have and be thankful for it.

One of the moods I go through at this time of year is a classical music mood. I want to listen to choral music, good choral music, Christmas choral music. I got this addiction through high school and college, singing in choirs like that of Saint Mark’s Church under Wesley Parrot (and if you ever find this page, Wesley, I hope you’re doing well wherever you are…) and the Princeton Singers under John Bertalot.

I have the strangest cd’s… I realized this when I figured out that my kids don’t know the basic Christmas tunes, but they’ve heard the below any number of times:

Best Christmas Pieces XM Classical Christmas Doesn’t Play
(At least, that I’ve heard.)
The Christmas Cantata – Pinkham
Riu Riu Chiu – old Spanish carol
Fantasia on Christmas Carols – Vaughan Williams
Ceremony of Carols – Britten
Four Christmas Motets – Puolenc

I think I’m gonna grab my fave recordings of these and make my own cd… XM Classical is a good stab at the kind of Christmas music I love, but ends up being a little too New Age for me.

What’s your favorite Christmas song?

(*)> *tweet*