Music for Your Week: The Hard Stuff | Choral Music & Pipe Organs for Christmas
Playlist | 2 hr 26 min: A heavy dose of holiness
Listen to last week’s Walter Martin Radio Hour: The Christmas Goosechase
So yeah, after twenty three days of twinkling lights, candy canes and holiday cheer, it feels like it’s time to get serious. I mean c’mon, there’s only two days till Christmas, so let’s hit the hard stuff.
I’m not a religious person but I love religious music, art and architecture. I guess I find it moving to witness humanity's best attempts at convincing me that there’s…something out there.
So this week’s music is all ancient melodies, heavenly voices and echoey organs. It’s breathtaking stuff and, kinda like the towering ceilings and arches of a cathedral, it begs you to feel something deep and mysterious.
Growing up, my family always listened to the King’s College Choir on Christmas Eve and the sound of those voices got very deep in me. My favorite (and still my favorite of all Christmas songs) was always Once in Royal David City. It’s pretty amazing. The song begins with just one boy singing—his little voice all alone, echoing through the cathedral for the entire first verse. And when the organ and rest of the choir joins for the second verse, look down at your feet because I guarantee your socks will be knocked off.
There are a few recordings of Once in Royal David City, but, for my money, the one I’ve included here is the most dark and beautiful. So this week’s playlist starts there and goes deep into this stuff.
Yes folks, I’ve compiled 2 hours and 26 minutes of the original Christmas hits — though I stuck in a few non-Christmas choral and organ pieces for good measure.
Enjoy!
(And lookout for a possible emergency newsletter about the Chalamet/Bob Dylan movie which I’m seeing on Xmas day)
-✌️❤️ walt
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