Kiskilili, yeah, it was funny when I read your post, and I was like, “hey, it’s a bunch of my favorite Christmas music!” As for Britten’s “A Boy is Born,” it’s really hard to find because not many choirs do it (because of it’s difficulty)–the music is actually out of print. It’s a 7-movement completely a capella piece, and a few of the movements have 8 parts rather than your usual 4. When my choir did it a few years ago, it took us multiple rehearsals before we could do some of the movements well enough to get any kind of sense of how they would sound during the concert.

I went looking around on Amazon, and I could only find choirs doing the “A Boy is Born” movement, and not the entire piece.

I’m glad you like our blog, Jessawhy. We mostly blog for ourselves, but it’s nice to meet other people online with similar interests who enjoy our discussions! Your 11-month-old sounds very cute.

I’ll “fourth” Seraphine, cmac, and Septentrionalist about O Magnum Mysterium; it’s haunting. I hope your performance went well, Septentrionalist! And I’m amazed, Seraphine, that you like so many of the carols I like–and we’re not even related! (Most of Benjamin Britten’s carols I don’t care for, but I adore “This Little Babe” from his Ceremony of Carols. I’m not sure I’ve heard “A Boy Is Born.”)

Hooray for cmac, who’s not only heard of but sung Personent Hodie and Adam Lay Ybounden!

I’m a certifiable Anglophile in more ways than one, Rebecca. I also like “O Holy Night” (there’s a wonderful rendition on Percy Faith album 1, which, incidentally, has my favorite recording of “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming.”) Like Dora, I also love “Coventry Carol,” “What Child Is This,” and “I Wonder As I Wander.” That’s funny about being ready to conduct the MoTab.

I haven’t actually heard the TransSiberian Orchestra, I’m afraid. But Capt. Obsidian, you’ll be glad to hear that I included “Good King Wenceslas” on the list, although, as you say, it’s actually a carol for St. Stephen’s Day (but close enough).

Making your own compilations is a great idea, C. L. Hanson. There are a few CDs on which I love every single song. But mostly I listen to certain tracks over and over.

(I forgot to mention in my post that I think the funniest line from any carol is “I have cherries at command,” in “The Cherry Tree Carol.” I can’t take it seriously.)

I heard the story behind In the Bleak Midwinter a few years ago, and it was an interesting one about a woman’s struggle with depression, if I remember correctly. I should look it up on the Internet sometime.

Every time it plays I turn to him and say “You know, this is one of the oldest Christmas songs that is still popular today.” To which he replies “I know, you tell me that every time.” (After X number of years of marriage you start to develop silly traditions… )

I was thinking of doing a post about all of the Christmas music I like and why. There’s no way I could cover the topic in a little reply.

I have this same ecclectic-and-picky thing going as you do, so I usually prefer to listen to my own compilation discs (as discussed here) rather than listening to the original discs all the way through.

I’ve joked that my motivation to compile my own discs was avoidance of Silent Night, O Holy Night, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, but it’s more than that. Usually I find a track here and a track there that I really love on an otherwise uninteresting disc or on a disc that isn’t a Christmas disc overall.

Chanticleer’s “Our Heart’s Joy” is one of my favorite Christmas albums, too.

But I also love the Percy Faith albums you mention, Kiskilili, and for the same reason. Volume 2 in particular just means Christmas to me when I hear it like no other Christmas music does.

Also thanks to your influence, I really like the Narada Christmas collections, particularly Volume 2 and David Lanz’s Christmas Eve album. Oh, and I second your recommendation of George Winston, cmac.

Really, I’m about the most uneducated Christmas music listener there is; half the time I don’t even know what I’m listening to. But I sure know when I like it.

One of my favorite Christmas memories: Our apartment party about 7 years ago. Everyone was to bring a story or poem to share. I brought home a stack of hymnbooks, and we sang Angels We Have Heard on High … parts and everything, acapella. ‘Twas glorious. Something about all those running Glorias. Then again, I am one of those types who practices conducting the Hallelujah Chorus, in the event that I am ever called upon to step in at the last minute for the MoTab.