Holiday song project!

Well, the holiday season is here again, which means that every radio station and blogger you know will be assaulting you with random holiday pop songs. I work in the mall, and I've already been subjected to hours on end of the same holiday tunes, including this one version of "I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm" which I actually like quite a bit, and I hear it all over the place, but I have no fucking clue who the artist is, which is sort of a problem. (We also play the Spice Girls at work, and I keep getting "Headlines" stuck in my head, and it's growing on me.)

Anyway, every year I intend to make a big ol' playlist of my favourite holiday tunes, and every year, I never get around to it. So we're going to try an experiment here. For the next 23 days (I considered making it 35, 'cause, you know, Christmas isn't actually over 'til Twelfth Night, but then I decided better of it), I'm going to post a song (maybe two or three, if I feel up to it) that I like. And that's how we're gonna' roll this year.

So I suppose I owe you two songs, for today and yesterday, then.

One of my favourite holiday traditions is Christmas Vespers at Smith. Each year, a majority of the musical ensembles (including the Handbell Choir, of which I've been a member since first year- hi, I'm a geek, what do you want?) gather together and play a cross between a Christmas concert and a church service. I'm not religious, really, but I do enjoy the experience.

My favourite part of all that is the very beginning of the service, when the Smith College Chorus proceeds into John M. Greene Hall by candlelight, singing "Veni Emmanuel," which is followed by the orchestra swelling to life and everyone singing along. It's a really moving moment, musically, and I almost lose it every year.

Tonight was this year's Vespers, and unfortunately, I couldn't be there for the second year running. In honour of that, here are the recordings of "Veni" from my sophomore year.

Veni Emmanuel - Smith College Chorus and Glee Club (Vespers 2005)
O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Smith College Orchestra, etc. (Vespers 2005)

We're also pretty big on Mannheim Steamroller in my family, so here's "Veni Veni" from the Fresh Aire Christmas 1988 record.

Veni Veni (O Come O Come Emmanuel) - Mannheim Steamroller

Did I just give you three versions of the same song? Yes, I did. Deal with it.



(If you have any suggestions for songs, feel free to comment or email me and share.)