Simply Having
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I do not dream of winter. December, however, gets a pass, if for no other reason than it’s a month dedicated to pageantry—and I am a longtime subscriber to the genre. I attribute this, in part, to a handful of otherwise-secular formative years spent in Catholic school (incense makes me go ecstatic; I once swooned during an especially smoky Stations of the Cross). A holiday yard display and the soft sparkle of a string light are starting points, but a critical component of the season is the soundtrack, and Christmas music speaks to me on an unexpectedly emotional level.
Pageantry requires drama, and ideally an orchestral arrangement. “O Holy Night” is at its best with a 100-person choir, and “Carol of the Bells” requires both urgency and rigor. I will personally take all the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has to offer; if John Williams has touched it for cinematic purposes, I want it, and yes—I am explicitly referring to the entirety of the Home Alone (1990) soundtrack…
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