Since the first time I heard it in on "A Prairie Home Companion" in 2016, I look forward to watching video of Chris Thile, Aoife O'Donovan, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Alex Hargreaves performing "All Through The Night." I can think of few vocal/instrumental collaborations that move me to such an extent. The tenderness with which Thile and O'Donovan sing "...Night..." stops me in my tracks every time and makes Christmas feel incomplete without it.
The last time I checked on YouTube, however, 11 people had given their performance a thumbs down. That floors me. I know music is subjective, and there's no law that forces people to account for their taste. Still, I wonder: Were those 11 listeners hoping for an ocarina solo instead? Does any piece of music gentler than Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" strike them as too sentimental? Or, are they just contrarian for the sake of being contrarian?
On Christmas Eve, especially in this difficult, divisive year, it feels wrong to have any other outlook than "Live and let live." So, Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it--even those contrarian listeners...I suppose.
