Beating back the ‘Bah humbug!’ holiday music blues

Yearly at about this time, I get an enormous case of the “bah humbugs.” Too many deadlines, too few hours (of daylight!) within the day, too many unattainable expectations to fulfill. Too many reminiscences prompted by the season, the climate, and particularly the music. 

New right here? Longtimer? Be at liberty to tug up a chair, settle in, hang around. As with an “open home” in actual life, the pretext for the gathering issues lower than offering the setting for a dialog. 

I can solely think about how exhausting and oppressive the relentless ubiquity of Christmas^TM turns into for folk who don’t observe the vacation. As a Christian with deep ambivalence towards the establishment and its doctrines, I discover most of the standard observances normally circulation tedious and shallow. Recently, after my mom’s dying, after COVID disruptions, after the true necessity to rethink what “celebration” means for me now, I discover myself extra compelled than ever to reimagine the season and my relationship to it. 

Music occupies a central place in my coronary heart and spirit, and as a singer and a spectator I’ve savored uncountable performances of items related to this vacation season. For me it’s vital to think about which music I wish to carry ahead, and why. Luckily, many sensible and inventive minds have already utilized themselves to the challenge of reinventing the music sometimes related to Christmas. Right here I’ll share a pair of my current discoveries within the hope that you just discover them stimulating and rewarding—and likewise within the hope that you’ll share your favorites, too.