I love Christmas Music

Mamalang is today's Fun Monday hostess and is curious about our favorite Christmas Carols.

Do any of you know The Wexford Carol? It is one of my three favorites and I came upon it by accident when I was looking at You Tube selections. It is the first full song on the embedded video. The setting is the Julie Andrews 1987 Christmas Special. She would be my first choice to perform it for you, too!

Now I really hit the Jackpot when I found this. The next song is the late John Denver singing What Child is This (tune Greensleeves.) Another favorite song from another favorite singer.

This post is like one of the Ginsu Knife commercials, because, WAIT! There Is MORE!
For only a few minutes longer you get to hear Placido Domingo performing Ave Maria!

It doesn't get much better than this.

Had she asked for Christmas songs...well, I love White Christmas (Bing Crosby), Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire (Nat King Cole), and It's a Holly Jolly Christmas (Burl Ives.) Oh, I know... I'm dating myself here.








She also requested a photo of our favorite Christmas thing.

Sorry, no photos. My decorations are still packed away and it was too late to unpack them when I decided to participate today.

I would have shown you the little ornaments that my children made when they were in school. Now my girls are saving their own children's hand made ornaments.

My husband has carefully wrapped and stored each year a little nativity set that he bought when he was a teenager. It is now so fragile that we get anxious when we set it out on display.

One year we bought hand blown glass icicles from a craftsman at a local Christmas bazaar. I love the way they sparkle on our tree, and that each one is unique - just like they grow on a cold winter's night.

Mr. Linky is up over at MamaLangs blog, so you can sing your way through the entries today, and enjoy their Christmas delights.

Comments

Gattina said…
I like Julie Andrews very much too, she has such a wonderful voice !
Ave Marie reminds me rather sad events, both my mother and father asked for this song at their funerals ! I don't know why but in Germany it really has become a funeral song !
Anonymous said…
Oh I love Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire (Nat King Cole) too...is that not The Christmas Song?! LOL ;)

My decorating is still a work in progress too!
Hootin Anni said…
I love all Christmas Carols. You picked some great ones. I do love to hear Pavarotti sing Ave Maria...sends chills it's so beautiful.

Oh if you ever get your children's ornaments out, get a photo and let me know...I'd LOVE to see them.

Happy Fun Monday
kitten said…
Job very well done. I have been trying to add a few Christmas songs to my blog, but didn't know about FUN MONDAY. I think it is neat. I don't blame about your hand blown glass icicles or your other priceless things. Sounds very lovely!

Thanks for your advice.
Now that you mention it there is 2 little girls in our town that KB does hang out with on outings. One of them happen to go to the church we been visiting and she has dyslexia just like KB. I have just been letting Rocker Dude fill in the gaps here with her school work, but never thought to ask one of these ladies if they minded KB to tag a long. I bet they wouldn't mind. They are very sweet ladies. Thanks for jarring my brain.
Ari_1965 said…
Ooh! Hand-blown icicles. Sounds lovely.
Desert Songbird said…
Burl Ives's Holly, Jolly Christmas will forever be associated with those classic Christmas television programs for me.
Jenni said…
So a Christmas carol is different from a Christmas song? Are the carols the religious songs then? I think I need to visit dictionary.com as well as checking the links here. I don't think I've heard The Wexford Carol.

My favorite Christmas song is White Christmas sung by Bing Crosby. I love Bing Crosby. O Tannenbaum comes in somewhere near the top, but only when sung in German. I can sing two verses in German. Are there any more? There's another thing to google.

I don't know what traditional carols I like best. I'd have to think a while to remember the proper names.

I do have some favorites that I guess would be more along the lines of a carol, but they wouldn't be familiar to many people. I need to have a CD giveaway on my blog this week or it will be too late to arrive by Christmas.
Walker said…
BUT YIKES... can you imagine trying to mix that? Placido Domingo alongside John Denver. It would be hard enough to mix Julie Andrews and John Denver. But all three of them together on the chorus? On the chorus of Greensleeves I think PD was just mouthing the words. I remember once long eons ago Cher had an opera singer... can't remember who ... singing on stage with her and it was just a blow out.

Surprising what we have lost in our culture, though. Just a few years ago -- 1987 -- there was still such a sweet and touching Christmas concert. Imagine that by 1995 Julie Andrews was doing Victor Victoria (a good movie and fun, but compare her early work to how coarse she -- and movies -- became.)

I'm wondering if we will see anything even close to this on contemporary television this year.
LadyStyx said…
What a beautiful share!!
Faye said…
I never mind that the Wexford Carol is on almost all my Celtic holiday music collections--it's beautiful in all arrangements. My friend was into ceramics one year and made me a beautiful nativity scene--I count all the animals to ake sure that I don't accidentially throw something away--it's so precious to me.

I second several of the above requests to see the children's ornaments. I love my popsicle sleighs and can lid pictures.
Anonymous said…
Oh, I love the Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney Christmas albums.
This year, I've also discovered a new one I'm addicted to--Sara Groves' Christmas album. She rewrites melodies, or at least plays with old melodies, to our favorite hymns. It's beautiful. Highly recommend it.
I bought it for my mom. On her first listen, her response was, at best, eh? Now she says she can't stop listening to it either!
Jan n Jer said…
Great picks, not too familiar with the wexford carol, thanks for picking it, now I know.
Unknown said…
I love Christmas tunes. :)
Anonymous said…
Ave Maria is one of my favs too.
Sandy said…
Terrific picks, one and all. I also stand abjectly in the corner for having failed to differentiate between carols and songs. Dang it all! I do know the difference!!!!!

Thanks for keeping me on my toes.
I love Peter Paul and Marys Christmas Concert from years ago:)
Kelly Curtis said…
These songs get me into the Christmas spirit better than almost anything! Happy holidays!
Anonymous said…
I love What Child is this too. I have never heard of the Wexford Carol
Mamalang said…
What great memories! Thanks for sharing.
karisma said…
Wow that brought back memories! I had to sing that What Child song for a school play once and Oh Xmas tree!
ChrisB said…
I don't know the Wexford Carol but I love all your other choices. If you are dating yourself with the old Christmas songs I'm there with you hehehe.
Wendster said…
Good ol' Julie Andrews. I love to watch her mouth while she sings. She just looks good even with her mouth moving making crazy vowel shapes.

I loved her in Thoroughly Modern Milly too. And what in the heck was the full name of the movie with "Lilly" in the title? She was great in both of them.

Good choices.

No ... I hadn't heard the Wexford song. Thanks for alerting me to it's existence.

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