Christmas Carols this Year

Maybe you recall from reading in  years past how even though I sometimes feel inundated by seasonal music, each year there seems to be a certain piece of Christmas music that sticks out for me as I prepare to celebrate.  Sometimes it’s a rare carol that I haven’t come across very much.  Other times it’s a familiar piece of Christmas music that I sort of dismissed previously and suddenly becomes very meaningful.  Often this happens when I come across a beautiful arrangement of that piece of music that brings out something special I had always overlooked.

This year I have two special carols, and surprisingly, they are both suited well for Epiphany.  This year the Arrowhead Chorale sang a really neat arrangement of “Star in the East,”  sometimes also referred to as “Brightest and Best are the Sons of the Morning.”   All month I have not been able to get this song out of my head!   The tune in some of the hymnals in my collection here are home is a bit different.  I like both versions.  THEN, the icing on the cake was last Thursday night when I attended a Rose Ensemble concert with a friend, and wouldn’t you know, halfway through the second part of the concert, they sang yet again a slightly different version of this carol, and I loved it too!  I had goosebumps while I was listening at the concert, and when I got home I downloaded the song to be played at will around the house.

The other carol is a common one:  “We Three Kings.”  It just hasn’t been a carol I’ve ever connected with.  At all.  In fact, I sort of inwardly groaned whenever I had to sing it, and I’ve pretty much heard it my whole life.    BUT the Arrowhead Chorale also sang an amazingly beautiful arrangement of this song at our Christmas concert this year, with flute and harp.  I loved singing the alto part in this arrangement, and I completely fell in love with verses two, three, four and five, which I never paid very much attention to before.  My very favorite verse is about the myrrh, “sealed in a stone cold tomb.”   I did some research on myrrh, and learned so much (which I will write about in a different post sometime soon).  Myrrh was valuable and had many uses, including burials.  I love the connection of myrrh being brought to Jesus at his birth, and myrrh likely playing a role in his burial and how this carol subtly brings the whole gospel story full circle.  Brilliant.  No wonder it’s such a popular traditional carol.

In addition, I am loving hearing my kidlets play carols on the piano, and especially YaYa’s seasonal  oboe music.  It makes me happy.