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Holiday Music 2018
By
Published: Dec 02, 2018
Category:
Holiday
The Tallis Scholars concert was transporting. Ten voices, polished by decades together, singing Palestrina at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin — it was like a drug. And then you come out, and you’re on West 46th Street, a hundred steps from Times Square and the Saturday night tourists and the vagrant guy holding a sign: “Need money for weed and bitches.” I checked my phone to see what I missed. And saw George H.W. Bush’s last words, to his son George: “I love you too,”
The contrast hit hard. I began to understand why when my friend said, “I was in a store today, and they were playing Christmas music. I thought, ‘December 1! It’s too early for this!’ And then I thought, ‘No, it’s good. We need Christmas this year.’”
Agreed. Our Leper President — the phrase that comes to mind is from “England in 1819,” Shelley’s great poem: “An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying King”— has finally succeeded in driving away everyone but the true believers. We watch, powerless and sad and hurting, as the Washington drama plays out. More than ever, we need the people in our lifeboats; more than ever, we miss those who have gone beyond. And thus, more than ever, we are susceptible to the sentiments and optimism of Christmas music. Like these…
Christmas with the Tallis Scholars
Founded in 1973 by Peter Phillips, this English group has released 50 CDs and given 1,600 concerts. Over the decades, the Scholars have become the gold standard of Renaissance music. Several generations of music-lovers around the world have become converts to Renaissance music’s gorgeous arcs of flowing sound from the Tallis Scholars. A 2 CD bargain.
Phil Spector: A Christmas Gift for You
Phil Spector is a killer and a sleaze, but as a writer and producer, he was magic, both with black groups (The Ronettes, Crystals, Ben E. King and more) and white (The Righteous Brothers). This is simply the best modern holiday album ever made.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Vince Guaraldi was an odd choice to score the Charlie Brown franchise. He was a noted jazz pianist, with a delicate right hand and a killer left. He turned out to be a genius addition to these shows — his music not only expresses the smart, bittersweet emotions of Charlie and his pals, it stands up on its own. Indeed, this may be the only Christmas recording you can play with pleasure all year.
Christmas with Dino
Dean Martin. No doubt recorded holding a glass of amber liquid. That it was almost surely iced tea shouldn’t stop your fantasy of a Vegas holiday.
The Beach Boys Christmas Album
The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album cover echoes simpler times: five fresh-faced young men in Andy Williams sweaters decorating the tree. You can almost hear them humming as they trim. The album enjoys five original songs and seven standards. A forty-one-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Brian and the great Dick Reynolds accompanies many of the songs.
A John Waters Christmas
The king of transgressive movies chooses his favorite — that is, most awful — holiday songs. Can you live without “Santa Is a Black Man" and "Here Comes Fatty Claus”?”
