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Christmas music 1998

By Tim Wood

This column originally appeared in The Columbia Daily Herald on Dec. 27, 1998

In an Internet e-mail group recently, a participant stated that there's only a two-week window in which he listens to Christmas music. He does not listen to it at any other time.

While I can't see singing "Let It Snow" in July, a two-week window is just not enough. There's just too much good Christmas music to limit to such a short period. Not only do we have the classic songs, but more great songs appear each year.

Many churches start singing Christmas hymns on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, and you can hear Christmas music in other places long before then.

Christmas music hit my household last August when one of my favorite music groups released its first Christmas album. I listened to it a couple of times, then put it away so I would not "wear it out." Perhaps listening to "Let It Snow" in August is about as bad as hearing it in July.

Church choir members often find themselves singing Christmas music early in the year. Many churches do major musical productions at Christmas. These programs require months of preparation, so choir singers find themselves looking at Christmas music in September. The directors of these choirs, who must select and order the music, may be listening to Christmas music in July.

At Christmas, at least some of them are auditioning their Easter musicals. Now, that would be confusing!

It must be confusing for recording artists to record their Christmas albums in the summer or, in some cases, spring. Some recording artists have been known to decorate the studio with Christmas lights to help get in the holiday mood - even if the calendar says March.

Each Christmas season brings new music as well as the return of the classics. There are also some good songs that may not be brand new, but are new to me.

Some of my favorite new ones (at least to me, in some cases) are Amy Grant's "Grown-up's Christmas List." She performed it on Kathy Lee Gifford's Christmas special, and it's been on radio often.

Jackie Velasquez sings on a recording that puts "Silent Night" together with the words of John 3:16 for an interesting result. Mark Lowry's "Mary Did You Know?" has the makings of a Christmas standard. Chicago's "Child's Prayer" is another new Christmas song that may stick around for awhile.

Christmas season also brings with it musical performances. This involves me on both ends - as a singer and instrumentalist with my own church's choir, and as a listener to other groups.

Time does not permit going to all of the great programs, but there were a few that were possible. A relative invites us to her church in Brentwood each year to listen to their musical program. Her church, like many others in this area, benefits from the presence of many music industry professionals.

Another highlight was Columbia's own Messiah singing. A strong contingent of local singers gathered at First Presbyterian Church one Sunday afternoon to sing selections from Handel's Messiah. Singing the Messiah leaves me humbled, because it shows me my limitations as a singer. But I've done the "Hallelujah Chorus" enough times to sound like I know it.

Christmas music lingers a few days after Dec. 25. Then, for most of us, it disappears until fall. I'm looking forward to a few more days of it. I'll play that CD I bought in August. Interestingly enough, there hasn't been much time to play it since I put it away. Looks like I've got some catching up to do.

But I'll try not to hum "Let It Snow" in July.

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