Years ago, I used to order CDs from a mail order company that offered nostalgic music. Once, I chose the grab bag option on the order form. For a low price, I'd receive an unspecified number of mystery CDs.
Naturally, there was an element of risk. I might have received several discs by singers with grating voices, whose CDs didn't sell for good reason. The company might have shipped discs that stopped playing after the second track. Or, I might have opened the box, only to find multiple discs by a well-intentioned but overly idealistic singer, warbling such rudimentary lyrics as, "The sun is shining. Yes, it is. The sun is shining. How 'bout that? Yay, OK, hooray!"
Fortunately, I had a better fate than that. All three of my randomly selected mystery CDs were Christmas music compilations performed by uncredited artists. It was disorienting not to know which ensemble was performing Handel's "Messiah," which orchestra was playing "Away In A Manger," or anything about the choir that was singing "The Holly And The Ivy." Considering how strong the source material was, however, the artists' anonymity didn't detract from the music's warmth.
May you have comparable good luck when ordering music by the grab bag.
