My Favorite Christmas Carols

I have sung in choirs for many years even at Christmas time and have sung many settings of Christmas carols. The song of popular culture don't always do it for me - they sound a bit manic at times (Happy! Presents! Santa! Snow!).

Here are some carols I really like this year:

In the Bleak Midwinter: I like this one because of its mournful longing sad tone. The tone is foreboding of Jesus's sacrifice to save humanity, yet there is an underlying theme of great love To me it sounds like God is saying "I know what I've come here to do, and I'm going to do it anyway."

O Come, O Come Emmanuel: This is another carol with a minor/modal tonality with with a feeling of longing.   It sounds like a Jewish song to me - the Jewish people crying out to God to send the savior.  I imagine they could continue to sing it today. Christians sing it as a way to represent the historical longing that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, before he came to us.  It's in Dorian mode, which makes for interesting listening and singing, in this world of rigidly 8 note scale

Hoo boy, digging into the recesses of my memory of music history for that one.

The Holly and the Ivy: I used to think this was the stupidest hymn ever. What does the running of the deer and a holly prickle have to do with Mary bearing Jesus Christ?  It seemed like someone wanted to sing a secular folk tune about woodland plants, then threw in the Christian reference to make the song acceptable, because the priest said they had to. Then.... then..... I figured it out. It's a long simile for the birth and life of Jesus. Sometimes I'm kinda slow.

Into the more popular hymns:

Angels We Have Heard On High: Love the harmony on the "Glorias."

The Christmas Song: Another one that is good to sing and gives a feeling of warmth.

Morning Star: Moravians are a small Protestant Christian denomication that has a relatively large concentration in central North Carolina. We used to live there and I was intrigued by them - I had never heard of them prior to moving the the Raleigh area. One year we went to an authentic love feast at a Moravian church and it was awesome. Morning Star is their "favorite" hymn, called the Moravian "Silent Night." It's a simple folk tune, but sweet and kind.

If I think of any more, I'll post some more. I need to get a move on today!