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In listening to tons of holiday jams over the last couple of weeks, I've come to the conclusion that my favorite Christmas tune is "Charlie Brown Christmas" (I even did my own version of it to express my fandom). The song captures the excitement and mood of Christmas without a lot of sappy or antiquated lyrics.
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The Hallelujah is an Easter tune. The show was written for Easter and is in two acts. First one; Birth, Second one; Death and Resurection. Hallelujah is in the second act. Sometimes in this country folks only do the first act at Christmas time and add one or two songs from the second. However, it is still an Easter Carol.
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"O Holy Night" - especially the last verse.
quote: Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
Something to work towards.
All the verses of "It came Upon a Midnight Clear".
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From Wikipedia: "Although the text is devoted to resurrection and salvation, and the work was conceived and first performed for Easter, it has become traditional since Handel's death to perform the Messiah oratorio during Advent, the preparatory period of the Christmas season, rather than at Easter. Christmas concerts often feature only the first section of Messiah plus the "Hallelujah" Chorus, although some ensembles like the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, and New York's Musica Sacra feature the entire work as a Christmas concert."
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quote:Originally posted by David Bowles: In listening to tons of holiday jams over the last couple of weeks, I've come to the conclusion that my favorite Christmas tune is "Charlie Brown Christmas" (I even did my own version of it to express my fandom). The song captures the excitement and mood of Christmas without a lot of sappy or antiquated lyrics.
What about you?
I don't know what my favorite Christmas song is but I do really like your version of the Charlie Brown tune.
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DB: That one is one of my favorites and I really like your version. Nicely done.
The songs that stick in my head (and LOVE to sing) are:
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Silent Night (sung simply and straight as written) - Do You Hear What I Hear (our band did an AWESOME version of this last Sunday)
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Silent Night is my favorite "serious one" The charlie brown one has special meaning to me (I'll listen to your's soon DB) There's also something special about Let There be Peace on Earth, performed by people you know and respect (my old orchestra and Tim Noble Distinguished Professor of Music from IU.
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"Veni, Veni" is one of my favorites, along with "Do you hear what I hear?"
I also like the Little Drummer Boy, as long as it isn't "jazzed up" with a beat, or band, or whatever. Simple, straight singing, with one drum (the one in the song).
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Funny, I like almost every version of The Christmas Song that I've heard. Sure, Nat King Cole's is the definitive one, but there are other excellent versions out there. It's just a great song.
My own version, for instance, sung in the shower or at odd moments throughout the year, is rather fetching.
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"O Holy Night" is superb, and I feel a need to mention "This Christmas," by Donny Hathaway as my Mom's favorite Christmas song.
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I'll third "I Heard The Bells" That last verse is making me cry just thinking about it - especially now.
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Adeste Fidelis/ O Come, All Ye Faithful. Close second, Silent Night (which was originally in German and has been translated into something like 35 languages.)
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You know, i'm pretty sure (although not positive) that your what you call The Charlie Brown Christmas song is actually called "Linus and Lucy", and is a more generic Peanuts tune, and not Christmas-centric. Although of course everyone equates it with Christmas because of the movie.
Actually, my vote would either be for "Chrismastime is Here" from A Charlie Brown Christmas or "The Christmas Song" sung by Nat King Cole.
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"Xmas bells, those Xmas bells Ringing through the land, Bringing peace to all the earth, And good will to man"
(chorus to Snoopy and the Red Barron's toast)
I have always enjoyed a special version of "Mary's Boy Child Jesus Christ." NOT the version by Harry Bellefonte, but a version featuring a girl singer, I believe. It has a second part--like a medley-- with another song. Both are performed a tad quicker than the hit as recorded by Harry in the late 50s (almost like a "rock" beat and tempo). I have no idea who did the recording and I haven't heard it for several years.
Another favorite would have to be the opening song in the movie "Toys," featuring Robin Williams. It is a song faeturing a "Xmas Tree" formation of singers and is supposed to be a student's Xmas program for their parents in the school auditorium. The whole idea and presentation of the number is great as the students AND the parents all get involved. Everybody should go to their local library and checkout this video and watch the opening sequence (especially before Xmas).
Sorry, I got carried away!
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quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Silent Night is my favorite "serious one"
Ah yes... but I don't think one can truely appreciate it until you've walked out in to cold Christamas Eve, where the sky is clear and the world gleams with moonlit sparkles off a snowy winterscape. All accented with glimmers of the aurora, crackling above. The silence becomes a presence, walking with you as your boots crunch with each step in the snow.
The trouble with growing up in the middle of Alaska...
You miss those silent nights...
quote:Originally posted by boogashaga: Another favorite would have to be the opening song in the movie "Toys," featuring Robin Williams. It is a song faeturing a "Xmas Tree" formation of singers and is supposed to be a student's Xmas program for their parents in the school auditorium. The whole idea and presentation of the number is great as the students AND the parents all get involved.
Actually it's the Toy company's Christmas Party. The song is called "The Closing of the Year(Main Theme)".
[ December 23, 2005, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: Historian ]
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But seriously, I'd be torn between The Carol of The Bells, and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
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Händel? Naa... I'd go with the 5th movment of the Chrismas Orotorias (sp?) by Saint John Sebastian Bach.
How about "Come all Ye Faithful"? It's got a lovely tune which we (aka: family) adapt to the Song of Ascending Ps 12...6? on Saturdays adjacent to Christmas (return to Zion, etc). Last year it was perfect.
But one of my all-time favourite Christmas tunes is "Wache Dich mein Hertze Rein" (sp?) from the St Matthew's Passion.
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