Christmas Music

Warning. I am going to complain.

I play the organ twice a month at church. I love it--twice a month is the perfect schedule for me. My favorite times of the year to play are Christmas and Easter. They are some of the few occasions when I can, literally, pull out all the stops. I can throw down some trumpet and really let the organ sound exuberant, joyful, and and jubilant. After all, we're talking about the birth and the resurrection of Jesus Christ here.

Christmas comes once a year. While we could sing Joy to the World in July, no one wants to do that. And with 15 songs in the hymn book devoted to Christmas topics, there isn't a lot of time to get to them all.

So you can imagine my dismay when I got the list of hymns for December and there were only four Christmas songs on the list. Four! Only four! A travesty. They included:

Silent Night
Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Joy to the World
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.

I suppose these were chosen because there are supposedly the truly necessary Christmas songs??

So, which are missing? The First Noel. Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Oh Come All Ye Faithful. Far Far Away on Judea's Plains. Away in a Manger. Angels We Have Heard on High. How can we go through a December without singing these songs? A true travesty.

Why only four? Well,the person who picks the music has certain ideas about what music you can sing when. On Fast Sunday you have to sing fast songs, even in December. And on the final Sunday of December you have to sing a New Year's song and a hymn to commemorate the birth of Joseph Smith.

I protested. This is just not right. So, a few changes were made. We got to sing one Christmas song the first week in December--Oh Come All Ye Faithful. We don't have to sing It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (is there anyone who prefers this song to Angels We Have Heard on High? Or Hark the Herald? This is one of my least favorite Christmas songs) because someone is doing it as a special musical number.

I fought long and hard for Far Far Away. We haven't done it either of the last two years that we have been here. The person who chooses the music told me last year when I complained about not getting to sing it that it's too hard for the congregation to sing. What?? Who cares if they don't sound perfect. Let's give those basses a fun and interesting part for once.

The choir sang The First Noel last Sunday, and I got to play for them. Ok, one other song we don't have to try to squeeze in.

And then today, to top things off, church was cancelled because of the weather. I have heard that all of today's music (congregation and special musical numbers)will be rescheduled for next Sunday. But, it's a disappointment.

I have a bigger problem than the logistics of December music. And it is this: why are somber and reverent songs more important (and more often chosen) to sing than joyful, triumphant, and exuberant songs? I have a problem that the congregation does not get to join together more often to sing the hymns of Christmas. I think this is as important (if not more so--for how often does everyone get to participate together? Only through the hymns.) as having every possible vocalist and instrumentalist perform.