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A Child’s Christmas in Wales
by Dylan Thomas
“The imagery in this exuberant prose
poem is astonishing. To get some different nuances from the piece,
read it yourself, and also listen to the recording of Thomas reciting
it.”
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A Christmas Memory
by Truman Capote
“A subdued, rather melancholic,
but touching short story.”
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Christmas
by Sir John Betjeman
“Possibly the best Christmas poem
not set to music, written by the late British poet laureate.”
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Christmas:
an American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art
“Christmas was an annual issued
by Augsburg Publishing House from 1931 to 1997; how my mother looked
forward to its arrival every year! It was a treasury of Christmas
stories, poems, art, music (much of it lesser-known pieces), and articles
on every Christmas-related subject imaginable, from Christmas customs
in foreign lands, to the Moravian celebrations in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,
to the famous Royal Copenhagen Christmas plates. Sadly, it is no longer
published, but it can still be found in a fair number of libraries
and used book stores.”
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| Mark's Favorite
Christmas Films |
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A Charlie Brown Christmas
“Granted, it’s not a feature-length
movie, but I had to choose it anyway, as it gets to the point of Christmas
better than any movie I know. It’s been 42 years since it first
aired, and it has not aged a day.”
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The Fourth Wise Man
“Martin Sheen is the fourth wise
man in this fine treatment of the Henry Van Dyke short story”.
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| Mark's
Favorite Christmas Music |
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Oh, where to begin in this category? I’ll
try to keep my list to a manageable length. |
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Mass
for Christmas Morning
by Gabrieli Consort & Players
“This glorious and ethereally beautiful
recording is a presentation of music (mostly by Michael Praetorius)
from the Lutheran service for Christmas morning, as it might have
been celebrated in one of the major churches of central Germany around
the year 1620. If you can listen to the rendition of In dulci jubilo
(accompanied by trumpets and tympani) without the hair on your neck
standing up, you’ll know you’re dead. ”
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A Festival of Lessons and Carols (title
varies slightly)
by Choir of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge
“Any of the recordings of this world-renowned
service are magnificent, but the one recorded on Christmas Eve, 1958,
under the direction of Sir David Willcocks, is the best of the lot,
if you can find it. (Released only on LP and cassette, it has long
been out of print.) An excellent second choice is the 1999 recording,
directed by Stephen Cleobury.”
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In Praise of God
by the Salisbury Cathedral Choir & English Brass Ensemble
“A splendid blend of choral music
and brass, interspersed with readings of classic English Christmas
poetry.”
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Renaissance Christmas
by Music of the Baroque
“More chorus and brass, but from
an ensemble that’s much closer to home. This recording was made
when Thomas Wikman was the director. (As good as Music of the Baroque
still is, they were never better than when under Maestro Wikman.)”
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In a Cold Winter’s Night
by His
Majestie’s Clerkes (now Bella Voce)
“A cappella Christmas music at it’s
finest, also from a Chicago-area group. (You can hear them live at
the Abbey on Dec. 16th.) ”
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Psallite!
by Chanticleer
“All right, one a cappella selection
isn’t enough. Since the preceding recording is of mixed voices,
here’s an extraordinary all-male chorus for contrast.”
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The Spirit of Christmas
by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
“My list wouldn’t be complete
without at least one recording from this choir, whose Christmas albums
were so much a part of my Christmases while growing up. Trying to
pick among The Spirit of Christmas, Christmas Carols Around the World,
and The Holly and the Ivy is difficult, but I give the nod to Spirit;
it has some marvelous little-known pieces, such as the hauntingly
beautiful Bethlehem Night.”
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