Christmas in September

I love Christmas. Like, I really love Christmas. I love how there is an emphasis on spending time with family and being kind to others. I love the cold weather (even though it doesn’t really snow here in western Oregon 🙁 ) and hot chocolate and twinkling lights. But probably the thing I love most about Christmas is the music, and I often find myself missing it during other parts of the year. Confession: I’ve been listening to Christmas music almost non-stop for the past few weeks, so today I wanted to share part of my Christmas playlist with you.

*Side note: I get that not everyone wants to listen to Christmas music in September, but my blog is about sharing music I’ve been getting into, and quite frankly the only thing I’ve been listening to lately is Christmas music, so here we are.

First up is Christmas Collection: An Old-Fashioned Christmas by the Carpenters. Recorded as two separate albums in 1970s and 80s, this album is a collection of Christmas music that shows off a wonderful range of instrumental and vocal pieces (read more here). I grew up singing and dancing along to these albums, and listening to them now reminds me fondly of the cold, dark, snow-filled Alaskan winters of my childhood. My personal favorites are both Overtures (one from each Christmas album), Christmas Waltz, Merry Christmas Darling, and O Holy Night, (but all of the pieces are great). You can listen by clicking on the pieces below:

I also grew up listening to Amy Grant and her various Christmas albums. One of my favorite songs she sings is Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song).This song tells the story of the Nativity through Mary’s scared, yet faithful, perspective. Read more about the background of this song here, and have a listen:

The last album I want to share with you today is called Christmas Cello by Steven Sharp Nelson. It is the perfect blend of stillness and excitement, and Nelson perfectly captures the spirit of Christmas in his warm cello tone. Silent Night and Still, Still, Still are my favorites.

I hope you enjoyed a little Christmas in September! I’ll be back with more Christmas music as December approaches. What are your favorite Christmas pieces?