Christmas Eve has always been one of my favorite days of the year. For me, it's the perfect combination of traditions--Christmas dinner, watching the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol with the family, and getting hardly any sleep.
However, there's also a play-it-by-ear component that appeals to me, as well. There's so much Christmas music I can listen to via so many sources. The Radio Arts Foundation's station, K297BI, played some appealing variations of "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" earlier tonight. I was also pleased to hear Carolbeth True's piano-anchored version of "I Saw Three Ships" on WSIE today, which uses the carol's lesser-played melody that brings to mind "London Bridge." In the car, I've switched back and forth between radio stations playing Christmas music and a CD I compiled from late '80s and early '90s recordings of KYKY's "36 Hours Of Christmas." That was the first station on which I ever heard the Emmylou Harris gem, "Light Of The Stable" and still the only station on which I've ever heard Hagood Hardy's tender, easy listening instrumental version of "Silent Night." Before I left to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family, I had to listen to favorite carols from my own library. The night would have felt incomplete without hearing Erin Bode's "The Star's Song," the Laurence Juber/Kenny Rankin version of "Angels We Have Heard On High," and the best rendition of "Away In A Manger" I've ever heard, by Oscar Peterson.
I know I won't get to every single Christmas carol I'd like to hear tonight or tomorrow, but I'll listen to as many as possible. If carols and Christmas Eve go hand in hand for you, as well, I hope you get to hear as many of them as you like.
