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Holiday Music is Uplifting — Don’t You Think?
Listening to holiday music lifts my spirits!
Each year I am amazed at how music can lift my spirits. Holiday music, especially, does this for me! We just finished watching a PBS special on holiday music from the Bach Festival Society. I was making Christmas cookies when it came on and I happily started to sing along without even realizing it.
The music, mostly hymns, were pieces I sang growing up. I even played my flute during a few Christmas Eve services for pieces like Carol of the Bells and O’ Holy Night. We were fortunate in our church to have an affiliation with the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. This affiliation provided music students working on their doctorates as our choir directors and organists. To say the music was outstanding is really an understatement.
I’m sure being exposed to the high-quality (expertly played and sung) holiday contributed to my love for music. Even this morning, I felt the familiar goosebumps when a favorite hymn was sung or the music caused an influx of emotions.
I have similar reactions to patriotic music as well. The Fourth of July is a great time to play Sousa Marches and songs from American composers like Aaron Copeland. Those pieces are rooted in happy memories as well — years of marching band and fireman’s…
