I'll be the first person to delcare myself to be a music snob, I wear the badge proudly. But don't think for a second that I am going to judge you for listening to Kanye West or Mariah Carey. Too many people mistakenly assume that because I am a music snob I only listen to what they call "classical" music. Let's just throw that out right now. It's no that I only listen to stuff that is more than 100 years old, its that I only listen to GOOD music. There's a difference. Your misconception comes perhaps fromt he fact that very little bad music lasts for over 100 years, so naturally the good old stuff is stuff that I listen to. (And don't even get me started on the defifnition of "classical" music. Let me sum up. If you get to call everything that was written more than 100 years ago "classical" then I get to call everything that was written less than 100 years ago "pop". The minute you try to correct me as to what constitutes "Pop", hip hop, R&B, rap, country, tweenie music, boy bands, or whatever else you want to lecture me on, I will return with a lecture on the difference between Bach and Beethoven, who were incidentally seperated by more than 150 years as well as the purpose with which they composed music. There is so much more difference there than there is between Miley Cyrus and Tupak, seriously, Bach and Beethoven even altered their harmonic structures!)
But we should step off that soapbox and return to Christmas music. Also, I am going through these questions backwards.
3)What is your least favorite song, the one you can't stand? You know it, there is that one song that forces you to change the radio station when it comes on. Here's your chance to rant.
Once upon a time, I was called a "Music-Hating Grinch". That's right. Granted it was before I was accepted to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (which is a recent development ni my life) but it was by a fellow cast member in an opera. It was because I posted a blog post about the worst Christmas songs ever, which you are welcome to read if you would like. (personally I think its the best bit of writing I have ever done)
http://ibeimomenti.blogspot.
Now the thing you have to know about this list, whether or not you choose to read it, is that its really about the sincerity of the music. I always judge music on its sincerity, but I am convinced that above all other music, Christmas music should be held to a standard of truthfulness and sincerity. I'm not so concerned if a song doesn't quite reflect my personal beliefs, but I get pretty up in arms about whether or not it reflects the beliefs of the people singing it. Like Niel Diamond (A Jewish man) singing O Holy Night. I have no patience for it. Maybe he can get away with Joy to the World, since the text reflects a Jewish belief in a coming Messiah. Or that crap about the Christmas Shoes, which is a fictional story written to induce a false emotional response. No wonder people think religion is a lie, if this is the crap they hear. The scriptures are pretty clear, Faith has to be in something that is True. Which is also why the Forgotten Carols top off my list of worst Christmas songs ever. Two words: Not True.
(Now you see why I had to go backwards. There is some stuff I feel really strongly about.)
2) Which Christmas song touches you the most or has the most profound message in your opinion?
Some of my favorites have already come up. Ally mentioned that text from In the Bleak Mid-Winter, which I absolutely love. The other bit of text that brings me to tears every time is from a Mack Wilberg arrangement of The First Noel. You can find it on one of the Tab Choir Christmas CDs, but I know it from having sung it before they did (Hah! Me First!)
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our Heavenly Lord
That He this glorious earth hath wrought
And with His blood mankind hath bought.
NOEL!
But you also just HAVE to hear the recording, I mean the sopranos do this soaring note and the harmonies just build into this glorious moment and I'm just sayin'. Wow.
1) What is your all-time favorite Christmas song or the CD you always throw in the first day of December? Or your favorite song to sing?
OK, here is where I confess to being one of those people that keeps Christmas music on my little ipod shuffle all year round. Sometimes its just a few, sometimes its a ton, and always it includes that recording of The First Noel. But come the day after thanksgiving the first cd I throw in is the soundtrack from the new Miracle on 34th Street. It's a great blend of music, and the very last song is this very pretty "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah Mclachlan. It's actually one of the few songs I could leave on repeat for an entire day and never get tired of it. But it's not very easy to find, so it's nice that its not done often and that I'm the only one really humming it all the time."
Nancy, is this the right version? It's pretty.
That's it! Hooray, you have mad skills Ally-cousin!
ReplyDeleteI love that song too (Sarah's). One of these days I want to borrow your i-pod and experience what it must be like to have a highly refined sense of music. As it is, I'll be listening to Manheim Steam Roller for the rest of my life. Good or bad, happy childhood memories of wrapping my self in tinsel while listening to it can never be trumped.
ReplyDelete