What a difficult question. Carols vary hugely, but I do love Hark the Herald, Away in a Manger (Norman tune - much gentler and sader, less remeniscent of primary school), O Come All Ye Faithful, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (although it always makes me think of Dickens).
As for songs, Slade's Merry Christmas gets me in the mood instantly, jumping and singing and generally feeling wonderful. I adore Fairytale of New York, and Little Drummer Boy (is that a carol?).
Does Lehrer's "Christmas Carol" count as a carol or a pop song (or both, or neither)? (I know he called it a carol, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is for your purposes:)
Answers can't really fit into a poll. I like most Christmas carols when sung by my Morris dance group, nice and vigorously, but I often don't like the same songs when sung like dirges. (Christmas carol concerts generally sing them too slow for my taste, and far too high for my comfort.) We tend to sing well-known words to less well-known folk tunes. While Shepherds Watched to the tune of Ikley Moor is a favourite, though we also enjoy singing it to another tune, with a refrain about "sweet chiming Christmas bells." I also like Good King Wenceslas when sung by Pellinor. ("Bring me flessssh!")
Favourite seasonal song, though, is probably one no-one else will know: Summer is a coming in again, which is written (I believe) by a Hampshire folkie - though it's a solstice/generic midwinter one, rather than a Christmas one.
Strangely enough, although my general attitude to Christmas is "Bah! Humbug!", I do like several carols, so it was difficult to choose one. My numbers 2 & 3 were "Oh come all ye faithful!" and "In the bleak midwinter".
Nice to see "Gaudete" listed (twice!); I particularly like "The Boar's Head Carol" by Steeleye Span, but don't consider either a pop song (although their awful "All around my hat" does fit into that category!). Still, it's hard to beat a rousing bit of Noddy Holder-ism!
I hate the Slade one so much I have to walk out of shops if they're playing it. The same applies to Mary's Boy Child and others. In fact, it would be becoming impossible for me to shop at all if miss_next hadn't suggested an MP3 player. I once asked an assistant in Debenhams why they had this stuff on. She said that they all hated it but that it was imposed by the people in the board-rooms; who of course don't have to listen to it all the time. I do wonder if anybody's actually done any research which suggests that people are more likely to buy if they're bombarded with Christmas songs - anyone know?
I liked it before, but Youngest did a lovely rendition of it in the local-but-one church about 3 years ago when we were just discovering her singing voice, so that elevates it to favourite. I also like Silent Night. Especially sung in German.
n.b. I personally interact with Christmas carols only as musical and cultural phenomena because I'm with the "I don't do religion, personally" bunch.
For me, probably the defining moment of Christmas-in-church (as opposed to Christmas at home) is singing in our school choir at the carol service, at the start of the third verse of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," coming out of the trumpet-like tenor line of vv.1&2, surrounded variously as I am by the organ, the sops and trebles launching into a descant, and half a dozen brass players going crazy. Never fails to move me.
This year we're joint-premiering a new Rutter carol, which is a great honour and all that, but it just doesn't get me emotionally at all. Maybe in 30 years if it catches on in our repertoire...
I love the Coventry Carol because it's one of our oldest carols and written in the old modal form. It sounds pretty eerie when done well (my mother did a wonderful SSA arrangement which our church choir used to sing).
Silver Bells is completely different. I like the music but I have to admit the words are fairly banal. Still, it's better than a lot of the alternatives.
Thank you for the poll - always interesting to read people's responses.
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wellinghall) wrote2009-12-11 06:24 pm
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As for songs, Slade's Merry Christmas gets me in the mood instantly, jumping and singing and generally feeling wonderful. I adore Fairytale of New York, and Little Drummer Boy (is that a carol?).
Notation explained
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Favourite seasonal song, though, is probably one no-one else will know: Summer is a coming in again, which is written (I believe) by a Hampshire folkie - though it's a solstice/generic midwinter one, rather than a Christmas one.
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Nice to see "Gaudete" listed (twice!); I particularly like "The Boar's Head Carol" by Steeleye Span, but don't consider either a pop song (although their awful "All around my hat" does fit into that category!). Still, it's hard to beat a rousing bit of Noddy Holder-ism!
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I once asked an assistant in Debenhams why they had this stuff on. She said that they all hated it but that it was imposed by the people in the board-rooms; who of course don't have to listen to it all the time. I do wonder if anybody's actually done any research which suggests that people are more likely to buy if they're bombarded with Christmas songs - anyone know?
no subject
n.b. I personally interact with Christmas carols only as musical and cultural phenomena because I'm with the "I don't do religion, personally" bunch.
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This year we're joint-premiering a new Rutter carol, which is a great honour and all that, but it just doesn't get me emotionally at all. Maybe in 30 years if it catches on in our repertoire...
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Silver Bells is completely different. I like the music but I have to admit the words are fairly banal. Still, it's better than a lot of the alternatives.
Thank you for the poll - always interesting to read people's responses.