Music of the season

I spend a lot of December being very low-key about the Christmas hype while paradoxically trying to make the family celebrations at my parents’ house perfect, for scaled-back versions of perfect. I learned for the first time this year that my mother finds Christmas depressing, because one can never get everything done. I don’t know whether that is a relatively recent thing, or whether she felt that way whenwe were young, and the decorations were tasteful but complicated and the baking was time-consuming. I definitely remember the Glass Wax stencils on a picture window, https://holidappy.com/holidays/decorate-your-windows-with-glass-wax-and-stencils and the raisin walnut cake took all day. This time I reminded her that her only duty was to sign carss that i had addressed, from her list. She still grumbled, but added a few personal notes, and was happy to get some handwritten replies from her equally elderly friends and relatives. At home, in Lexington, I put up some greenery with lights outside (fir sprigs, little string on lights), and have just enough in the house to smell nice. Cards to our distant friends too, and that is it. My chief exertion is trying to hear/participate in as much music as possible. I think I have managed to attend an open Messiah sing almost evey year for the past thirty, and then it is hit or miss how much Early music or folky stuff gets squeezed in. This year I didn’t get to Blue Heron or Musica Sacra or even a lessons and carols service (although I did ring bells for one, and saw a good Christmas pageant). On the other hand, I attended the Christmas Celtic Sojourn for the first time ever, or at least the first half of it. I left at intermission to be on time to volunteer at the Tea Party re-enactment. Tha could be its own post. The music at the CCS was good, but would have been better without the (fortunately brief) carol singalong. I thought there was more step dancing than needed, but it was nice that Kevin Doyle also did a short tap dance improvish thing with only the drummer.
We never got out the Christmas LPs or cassettes, but it’s only the second day of Christmas, so there is time.

For an unrelated but calendrically overlapping holiday, we do the candle lighting for Chanuka, hang a celebratory banner on the porch, and happily eat latkes that other people make. Additionally, this year I got the trombone down from the attic and joined a klezmer band for the service at Follen (our UU congregation). It was a mix of an ongoing band plus a few parishioners. Short bouts of practice every few years means I’m not a very good player, but it helped a lot to be next to a trombonist who *is* good. It was fun. The entire service, with klezmer music interspersed throughout, including during the presentation of a live-action verson of Daniel Handler’s “The Latke who wouldn’t stop screaming,” can be seen here:
http://follen.org/services/latke-wouldnt-stop-screaming/
What can’t be seen there is me, because I was kind of tucked behind the edge of the archway.