As the darkness lingers longer into the morning and falls earlier every evening, I look forward to the holidays. On Hallowe'en, we revel in the darkness. On Thanksgiving, we find comfort in mashed food and pie. And for Christmas, we (those of us who celebrate it) spangle the darkness with lights and song ... and by the time December 25 arrives, the solstice has passed; so though January and February may be dreary, we can at least find solace in the lengthening days.
Much as I love Christmas, hell is other people's Christmas music. Nevertheless, I would like to share my favorite Christmas CDs. But I won't make you listen if you don't want to. I promise.
- Pops Christmas Party, by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra. The grand, transcendent medley that opens this classic album includes all the Santa Claus and hohoho and mistletoe and presents to pretty girls that Lucy could ever ask for. Plus, there's "Sleigh Ride"—I will never tire of the crack of that whip—and selections from The Nutcracker.
- Noël by Joan Baez was my mother's favorite. Once, as a little girl, upon hearing the haunting opening track, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," I understood the holiness of the holiday: the mystery of the babe in the manger, of the visitation by angels of the shepherds watching their flocks through the night....
- A Charlie Brown Christmas, by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Of course. No other music captures the melancholy of Christmas so well. Why the melancholy at this time of cheer? For me, it is because I am no longer a little girl, enchanted, praying for snow....
- A Winter's Solstice II by Windham Hill evokes the meditative qualities of a snowfall or winter twilight. Plus, it's not actually Christmas music, so anyone can enjoy.
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