favorite Christmas music

I got this idea from the Long ladies' list of favorite Christmas movies and cds.

I have a good assortment of Christmas music, but a handful of very favorite ones -

This one I originally had on tape, bought from a catalog which featured things from England. I love A Christmas Carol, and it was called Inside Fezziwig's, so how could I resist it? By a fellow named Ed Sweeney along with some other musicians, it's a lively mix of dancing melodies.  After a few years, the tape got distorted and I was in a panic, but my faithful friend (Cyndi Lou Who) found it on cd at Amazon with a different name.

One of my jobs at the library is to purchase music - mostly classical, some jazz, holiday music (of course!), along with this person, who buys mostly pop. I like to get things from different cultures, and I got this one from Musical Heritage Society. It's from a music school in Sweden and I fell in love with it. I'm not Scandinavian at all, but I love to listen to it. The acoustics are wonderful, the singing is wonderful, and the way Peter Mattei sings O Holy Night is terrific.

Here's another discovery from MHS - Julianne Baird singing a Renaissance program at the Metroplitan Museum of Art in NYC.

These two are my absolute, absolute favorites - the Cambridge Singers can't be surpassed. Both of these are perfect, and I can't think of anything more to say about it!

My father was a musician, and loved Sinatra more than any other singer, so we grew up hearing him, and I still like him. I've heard other of his Christmas recordings, but they're a bit too jazzy for me - this one is quieter, but with some cheerful songs as well. A very nice collection.