I know I'm not alone feeling deeply connected with Christmas music from the past. Classic versions of many holiday favorites just make it feel more like Christmas. A personal favorite of mine is Julie Andrew's
Joy To The World. I still have the vinyl! I also still have my vinyl of Gene Autry's
Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer
Another LP I have includes Simon and Garfunkel's
7:00 O'Clock News/Silent Night -
have a listen if you haven't heard it.
I took guitar lessons in Junior High - I was pretty proud of myself when I learned how to play Silver Bells - I still have the ditto! (Note to self - describe to teen age daughter how school assignments used to look and smell)
The family piano plays a big role for me at Christmas time and the rest of the year. Below is family sing-along at the piano in 1974 - my Dad had an ear for music and would take requests.
The piano here is from the 1920s - according to family lore when my Dad's parents got married in January 1929, they rented a furnished apartment in Bremerton, WA. The previous owner was a Deputy Sheriff (possible surname Allen) and for reasons unknown to me, skipped town in the middle of the night leaving through a back window with his family. Later the family was washed away in a flash flood somewhere in California. Some day I'm going to see if I can find anything to authenticate this story but in the meantime, the story of the piano is that it originally belonged to him and was left in my Grandparent's first apartment. My parents later inherited it and "antiqued" it as shown above (GAH!). Sometime in the 80's or the 90's they had the ivories replaced and thankfully refinished the body and this is how it looks today.
The sheet music on the right in both photos is the same. Here is some old Christmas sheet music in the family collection
Irving Berlin's
White Christmas copyright 1942,
I Believe In Santa Claus dated in my grandmother's handwriting December 1945 and
Carol of the Drum that I tried to play on piano in the mid 70s.
My Grandmother played on this piano, my Dad learned to play on this piano, I TRIED to learn to play on this piano and my daughter has learned to play on this piano. This makes me smile.
Many years ago my mom recalled my favorite decoration was a music box wall nativity that played
Silent Night when the string was pulled so she gave it to me. This also makes me smile.
More "modern" is my
Best of Christmas in the Northwest CD - this the cover unfolded because I love the lyrics to
Another Wet Seattle Christmas. Album presented in 1994 by the now defunct Ernst Home and Nursery.
VERY meaningful to me is every Christmas Eve service that I've attended since I was very young is concluded with individual candle lighting during the singing of
Silent Night. I don't have an old photo of this important tradition for me but this is a couple of years ago at my church.
Merry Musical Christmas to you!!
