December. A month that gives me such conflicting feelings. A month of darkness, of solitude, of quiet. A month of barren trees, grey skies. When all living things from the birds, the squirrels, and the people all move with an air of caution, in reference to the end, which is simultaneously the beginning of something new. A month of…
Christmas, the perfect holiday for the end of the year.
Naturally, this month is typically the time holiday music begins to appear everywhere.1 I will preface this by saying I don’t have a severe allergic reaction to this music as some people do. In fact, I can still enjoy even the most overplayed holiday hits.2
Yet, this year, as well as the past few years before it, I gravitate more towards instrumentals. When you hear “Instrumental Christmas Music", your mind might go towards memories of the generic piano/jazz music that your parents would put on as they did their frantic, typically last minute, preparations for Christmas/Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe you were (un?)lucky enough to have the Kenny G Christmas album in the house. Most likely, you’re thinking of the A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack (we’ll get to that!)
Regardless, you’ve been exposed to it; we all have. Yet, they aren’t the songs you hear on the radio, and they certainly aren’t the songs people go out of their way to stream or play.3 Delegated to the background, like instrumental music in general. This, to be blunt, sucks, as there is so much of it that deserves a deeper listen. When it comes to “traditional” Christmas songs (the ones that end up on the radio and charts), there are four general themes I notice:
This seemingly covers all the bases for every festive mood and sentiment that makes up the aesthetics of the holiday season. Be grateful. Be happy. Give gifts. Make snowmen. Fall in love. The most wonderful time of the year!
Yet, obviously, it’s not that simple. The holidays are tough for a lot of people.4 We get caught up in getting the right gifts, getting the perfect tree, making the perfect Christmas dinner. And, of course, the tragedies of life—loss, alienation, grief, depression—don’t just magically disappear during this time of the year. In fact, they tend to become more visible and pronounced during the holidays. I know that fact very well; it has been reinforced and engraved in my mind. I’m not saying this to grovel in self-pity, or to be a holiday buzzkill. In fact, I have the exact opposite intention. These feelings will always be a part of the season, and that’s just fine, in my opinion. It gives me a stronger appreciation for the smaller beauties, the more subtle moments. This is where instrumental music comes in.
Think of “traditional” holiday music as a billboard screaming at you in the middle of the city, demanding attention from everyone that passes, hammering its message into your skull. Instrumental Christmas music is more like a small pocket flashlight, dim, but always with you, whether you are alone, in an unfamiliar street corner, or in a dark forest. Which is more comforting? Which would you trust to get you home?
This isn’t to say that instrumental music can’t be “fun”. A lot of classical/instrumental artists have interpreted and covered all the previously mentioned hits. Vitamin String Quartet5 released an album of this sort and it’s awesome. Additionally, the previously mentioned Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack is full of songs like this: fun, jumpy tracks, just without vocals (for the most part). At the very least, I feel that these instrumental songs can capture the previously mentioned themes just as well as the hits. If you don’t feel the same way, that’s perfectly fine, I won’t die on that hill; it’s just something to think about.
But, back to the main focus: the ways that instrumental music captures certain moods better than the pop songs, and why it does. Instead of providing scenes straight from the holiday cards (opening presents by the fireplace, caroling, building snowmen), I find instrumental music makes me contemplate moods and memories often neglected and more complicated: driving through the heavy snow, sitting in the front yard waiting for your extended family to arrive for dinner, forcing yourself awake until 3 in the morning hoping to catch Santa. To me, instrumental music can capture this essence due to emotional, not technical, differences. Again, not differences in chords, structure, keys, song lengths, or technical ability. As previously stated, a lot of Christmas songs, the hits and the instrumentals, tend to be interpretations of the general Christmas canon. So, in a technical sense, all these songs are nearly identical.
First, I want to clarify a conviction I’ve had for a while. All music relies on moments to impact the listener's emotions. In the hit songs, these moments tend to be the hook, something that claws into your brain that you can't help belting out or humming. Instrumental music has these moments as well, but without the words being there, guiding you alone–where does your mind tend to wander to? Most likely, a scene of your own imagination, your own personal tone poem.6 Maybe, instead of manufactured memories of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”, you fill the space with more unique, more personal memories.
This7 song unearthed a particularly powerful memory for me. I was little (ten years old I think) when both of my mother’s parents passed away that December, within a couple of weeks from each other. I remember sitting in their bedroom, watching birds fly by. My grandpa loved blue jays and my grandma loved cardinals. That Christmas Eve I was looking out the front window. I saw a blue jay and a cardinal. They spotted each other and flew together, a beautiful ribbon shaped dance, breaking away after a few seconds and flying off. It might seem like I am adding significance to an event that a younger, more naive, me experienced but did not understand. In reality, the significance was so obvious to me as a kid, it didn’t need words or active thinking to be understood. And only now, thanks to this song, other songs like it, and some deeper reflection, I’m finally remembering those things that came so naturally to me before. This memory is definitely bittersweet, not the type you could write a catchy chorus for.
That’s for the best, I think. The idea that the holidays are this perfectly wonderful time where we (should) forget all the evils of the world and just smile was seemingly forced on us in pursuit of more extravagant parties, gift giving, more elaborate Christmas trees, etc. At the same time, just because the holidays are rough, and even traumatic, for a lot of people doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t try to enjoy them. Easier said than done, I know. The regret and melancholy during this time is inevitable; it’s winter and that’s a time where a lot of people reflect on their years and lives as a whole. And, being humans, a lot of that reflection is on the mistakes, the arguments, the burned bridges, the dark moments. Yet, for me, the pain of this time of year makes me cling to the beautiful moments even harder—and rather desperately at times, I admit. And that makes reminiscing on those subtle moments so much more powerful for me.
Again, Christmas is the perfect holiday for the end of the year. The celebration of Christ’s birth was a triumph, a great joy. But it took place in the manger, surrounded by only a few people, where He rested, in that secluded, quiet space, surrounded by the darkness8. And when the wise men went to see him, they were not guided by angels, a mighty storm, or the sound of trumpets, but by a single star9. “Wait!” You might say. “But it was grand and there were angels, doesn’t that contradict you?” Well, the account in the book of Luke does take on a more triumphant tone. But this is paired with Matthew’s version which discusses the Star of Bethlehem and Jesus’ family fleeing to Egypt, a much darker interpretation of the event. I think this contrast between the two accounts suits my point quite well, and I’d hope that a non-Christian or even a non-religious person could appreciate the symbolism of this. I’m not trying to convert, just making connections.
I’ve repeated myself more than enough, so I want to dedicate some time to discussing my favorite Christmas album, and one of my favorite albums in general: December by George Winston. 10
I am going to provide a list of recommended listens at the end of this. If you have it in your heart to listen to any of them, at the very least, please listen to that album. Winston is a unique artist who defies expectations. He blends rock, stride, jazz, and classical elements with the skill of a Baroque master, all while sporting a look more reminiscent of a 1980s computer technician.11 This style has led to him being labeled the creator or “godfather” of new age music. While I will admit his style has a lot in common with household12 names13 of the genre14, the “rural Folk piano” label he gave himself seems more accurate to me. This is not an attempt to distance him from “new age schlock” (I actually love new age music). Rather, it just is the best way to describe his music, and the folky-ness is extremely evident in December.
An artist is typically considered “folk” when they attempt to link their music to a wider tradition or canon, be it political (protest music) or cultural (regional folk music). At the same time, there is the constant, conflicting desire to “break the rules” and rebuke the tropes (Bob Dylan “going electric”, modern indie folk/indietronica).
As seen from the album’s liner notes (which can be found in the linked Wikipedia article) many of the songs on the album are inspired by traditional hymns and carols. Yet, at the same time, Winston pushed the envelope of classical and holiday music.
Take “Peace”, the album's closing track. While the song includes some lovely flourishes, most of it is empty space, focusing less on pretty melodies and more on sustained chords and arpeggios. It walks a fine line between classical and ambient perfectly. The song is solemn and quiet, but at the same time hopeful and, well, peaceful.
Contrast this with “Joy”, an interpretation of Bach’s "Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring". It is an exhilarating barrage of music, with Winston playing multiple melodies simultaneously (and bass notes) for most of the track. I can’t help but feel like I’m listening to three or four pianos playing at once. It does make me feel joyful, but not in the way that the hits do. It is not just a “happy song”, but a song of rejoicing and a song that reaches me on a spiritual level. Maybe this is why the “new age” label was so often ascribed to Winston’s music?
It seems to be music that, through its euphoric melodies and ambient tones, would be the perfect background for prayer or meditation. Yet, the spirituality of the music is not directed towards a specific God or religion but Christmas. It isn’t that Winston “worships” Christmas, but that the ethos of Christmas—of the family dinners and of the walks in the snow and of the intergenerational love passed down through gifts and of the candlelight prayers and of the observed griefs, the moments at the heart of the holiday—make up a tradition that transcends generational and cultural differences. Instead of honoring these traditions by interpreting the classics note for note, Winston chooses to create an album of the exaltations and dirges, songs inspired by “friends and places”, “1800s appalachian carols”, and, of course, “by American Peanuts jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi”15, culminating in an album not quite classical, not quite ambient, not quite new age, but all of them and none of them at the same time. This is what makes December, over everything else, a folk album and my favorite Christmas album.
I would talk about every single song on this album in detail, but we are straying from the main point, so I will leave that for another day, maybe.
I am writing these final thoughts on Christmas Eve, 2024. My mind is always racing, and I’m always overthinking, but once Christmas comes around I overthink about a very specific thing. Not the dinners, the tree, or the presents; all of those are wonderful parts of the holidays I cherish. Over everything, I obsess over moments—moments of surprise that a family member I haven’t seen in a long time came to visit on Christmas, moments of joy driving home from my grandma's house at midnight on Christmas day, hauling in massive trash bags full of opened and unopened gifts, moments of bittersweet resentment that part of me will always associate the “most wonderful time of the year” with significant losses in my life. All of those moments, etched in my mind, linger around all year until the holiday season when they make themselves loud and known.
They are the holidays to me, for better or worse. I lean towards better, as these moments, good and bad, are what tie me to this great tradition and to the people around me—not “ignoring all your troubles” and pretending to be happy, but the feeling that the shared lows are better than the solitary highs, lows not just shared between me and my family but all others: old, young, all genders, Christian, atheist, the cynics, the optimists—people who I have never and probably will never meet who find joy in the greatest sorrows and sorrow in the greatest joys during this time of the year, just like me. And, as silly as it may sound, the instrumental Christmas music that I love so much, has drawn me towards these conclusions more than anything else has, and for that, I am truly grateful.
Recommendations:
I wanted to keep the recommendation list brief so as not to be overwhelmed with too many choices. So, I created three categories of instrumental holiday music with three albums each (as well as a couple miscellaneous things that didn’t fit the categories but I found worth sharing.) Obviously you know my primary recommendation, but I’d hope you can find something to enjoy in all of these albums and that they may serve as a good entry point for anyone interested in diving deeper into this niche.
(To preface: I am aware that not every single song on every single album listed is an instrumental track. However, I feel the albums listed are primarily known for the instrumental tracks and at the very least the instrumental tracks are given as much artistic consideration and attention as the non-instrumental ones by fans and the artists themselves.)
Instrumental Piano
December - George Winston
Solo Piano Christmas - Chad Lawson
Deck the Halls - Brad Jacobsen
Classical/Orchestral
Christmas Eve and Other Stories - Trans Siberian Orchestra16
Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker Suite - London Symphony Orchestra
A Royal Philharmonic Christmas - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jazz
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi
A Mellow Jazz Christmas - Various Artists
Silent Nights - Chet Baker
Other/Misc
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zW_cVKF_dNs&si=QXajFYv6IJi4m2W4
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Footnotes
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