What are your favorite Christmas songs and hymns? For myself, I still love hearing "O Holy Night." "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day" is a lovely and blissfully non-ubiquitous song. Corelli's Christmas Concerto in G minor is probably my favorite piece of Christmas chamber music (I wrote about it last year.) I don't have a favorite hymn, but "Adeste Fideles" gets my blood moving.
As a public service, I would like to issue my annual reminder that the Hallelujah Chorus is for Easter, not the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior.
What about 'Comfort Ye' and 'Every Valley Shall be Exalted'? Can we sing those for Christmas? Or at least Advent?
I stand by my original vehement disagreement with Mr. Johnson on the appropriate nature of the Hallelujah chorus from last year.
Christ's mission should be seen in eternal in purpose and all-encompassing. While we commemorate His birth at Christmas, we do so in light of the totality of His saving work, past, present, and future.
He is He Who was, Who is, and Who is to come. Considering that some people only darken the doors of a church at Christmastime, I like to think we can present the totality of the Gospel message rather than focusing like a laser beam solely on Christ's birth.
But anywho...
My favorites are "O Holy Night," "Silent Night," and "Joy to the World."
I'd have to go with "In the Bleak Mid-Winter," with "The Boar's Head Carol" being the funnest to sing.
Isn't "Boar's Head" a New Year's carol? I remember this because I saw an actual display of boar heads in Safeway on New Years Eve a few years ago, and I strongly considered buying one and leaving it in my brother's bed.
My favorites are Veni, veni, Emmanuel and Est ist ein Ros entsprungen.
How about Coventry Carol?
Ken, I have no problem with presenting other parts of Christ's life at Christmas. Each Mass recalls the sacrificial passion and death of our Lord, and his holy blood and flesh are re-presented in the Eucharist. At Mass, the Christian life is lived out in miniature, from the confession of sins to the final union with God.
My problem with the "Hallelujah Chorus" is not that it's from the Resurrection, it's because it's presented as the Incarnation. I guarantee that no more than one person in ten associates it with something other than Christmas.
There are plenty of other parts of Handel's "Messiah" that are suitable for Christmas -- the "Glory to God in the Highest" chorus, or the aria "Behold, a Virgin Shall Conceive" come to find.
Sorry, Robert, I missed your comment at the top. I think those are wonderful selections for Advent.
"Creator Alme Siderum" and the Sweelinck "Hodie Christus Natus Est". While I like "O Holy Night", I have to say that having seen the French lyrics, whoever did the English "translation" was on crack! The French is much nicer.
Oh, and it wouldn't be Christmas without the Victoria "O Magnum Mysterium".
'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen' Or is it, "Tidings of Comfort and Joy"?
To be technical, it's "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," such that "merry" does not modify "Gentlemen" as an adjective but rather is an adverb to modify "rest."
A personal favorite is "Of the Father's Love Begotten," with its beautiful chant melody. I'll second "Est is Ein Ros Entsprungen." Although I'm a stickler about saving Christmas hymns and carols for Christmas, I would concede "Est is Ein Ros" for the fourth Sunday of Advent.
+J.M.J+
"Adeste Fidelis/O Come Let Us Adore Him" is my favorite. Also "What Child is This" and "Silent Night". I generally like all the commonly sung Christmas hymns.
Though I don't like too many secular Christmas songs, I do enjoy "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano. And some warped side of me likes the Kinks' "Father Christmas"; it's kinda funny but also carries the message of remembering the less fortunate.
In Jesu et Maria,
+J.M.J+
BTW, the aforementioned "Father Christmas" by the Kinks should not be confused with the song "I Believe in Father Christmas", which I dislike.
I'm talking about the one that goes "Father Christmas, give us some money....", not the one that starts "They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth..." Two very different songs.
In Jesu et Maria,
I forgot one: "Working Elf Blues," a country song by Darren Norwood. If you're not listening to it closely, you'd think it was a variation on "Take This Job and Shove It":
I work for a fat man in a long, white beard
He's got rosy red cheeks, and he dresses weird...
I'm Santa's little helper, my name is Eugene
I'm just a little cog in his Christmas machine
Somebody better give Santa the news:
This little green man's got the working elf blues.
LOVE - Oh Holy Night - goosebumps each time someone with a great low (barratone?) voice sings it.
Also like the duet with Bing Crosby and David Bowie --- Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth. They sound great together.