Music at Christmas
During the Christmas season you can always hear Christmas music, whether it be songs, carols or instrumental. Christmas music can be heard in the background, whether in shops, restaurants, on the radio or in people’s homes, whether eating or simply relaxing, and cars. This is unlike any other holiday season, where music plays a much smaller role, at least partly due to the length of the Christmas period as compared to others. Christmas music can start appearing weeks, if not months, in advance of December and the true Christmas season. Quite often Christmas themed music drives out a significant portion of other types of music. This is presumably why so many different types of Christmas music have evolved over the years, from secular to religious and traditional to popular.
With the predominance of Christmas music during this time of year artists frequently produce their own Christmas tunes for the season. These may be reimagining’s of traditional or religious music, or purely secular in origin. For a lucky few their songs strike a chord and are played over and over again at Christmas time, becoming Christmas classics. Even though many songs may not be perennially successful, every year there are new songs and variations released. Some of these songs should probably have never seen the light of day, as people attempt to cash in on the festive season, often with very poor results.
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The right Christmas music can be a great help in creating the right mood in the holiday season. Everybody tends to have their own favourite music, whether it’s because they like the melody, the lyrics or simply because hearing a song evokes a good memory.
One of the most popular Christmas songs of all time is “White Christmas” which is popular even in places where a white Christmas is not going to happen – and if it did, it would certainly not be something they’d willingly dream of happening. Carols too are popular, with some old favourites being “Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger,” “Hark the Herald Angels” and “O Holy Night.”
Carols are religious songs about the birth of Jesus. Another notable piece of Christmas music with a religious them is the “Hallelujah Chorus” by Handel, often a favourite for choirs to perform.
The late Nat King Cole, known for performing jazz, gospel and classical music, has a Christmas song called “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” This song, whilst not sacred or religious, is often not considered truly secular. Christmas music can also be humorous, as evinced by the songs “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus Underneath the Mistletoe Last Night.” With the wide range of Christmas music available, it is possible to pick music suitable for any occasion, whether for general entertainment, for fun or even a formal dinner. Music can even be picked to change the mood throughout an event.
In addition to the performances of pop stars there is other Christmas music available from groups such as choirs, symphonies and orchestras. These are often available as entire albums and can range from local groups to those that are internationally famous. They may be a studio recording or done from a live performance and can be popular with the more serious music lover.
Whatever your musical needs are at Christmas time, you can be sure that there will be Christmas music available that will match them. A good Christmas tune will continue to be played every holiday season after its original release.
