Crackling slurs, Christmas lights and elves will get you some distance, but it wouldn't be Christmas without music. Among hymns, crooners and party pop, what really makes Christmas music Christmas music?
/ 21/12/2021 / Kristian DugstadThe first Mariah Carrey of the year at the mall. Maria Mena on the train home for Christmas. Bing Crossby and Christmas baking. The Silver Boys on TV, while the ribs are being put on the table.
The childlike joy that arises when we get just the right sensory impressions is for many the great ambition of the Christmas season. In this pursuit, music often plays a central role. But even if the mood we seek is the same, the tones that take us there are different.
Together with a composer and professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music, we have opened Santa's sack and looked at musical Christmas gifts in all shapes and sizes.
Christmas music takes many forms. Christmas hymns, Christmas carols, classical works, American hits from the 40s, Norwegian songs and more recent pop songs. A timely question to ask is: Can Christmas music be anything?
– The answer to that is actually yes. This is about tradition. We associate all these different genres with Christmas, or what we have learned that Christmas can be. Anything that is created new in one of these aesthetic fields will fall into the category of Christmas music, says Wolfgang Plagge.
The accomplished composer and pianist made his debut in the University Hall at the age of 12, and had made a name for himself in Norwegian music while still a child. In 2005, he self-released the album Christmas variations with improvisations on traditional Christmas songs.
– Christmas music is perhaps the music category we have that embraces the most. There are so many symbols that help to characterize Christmas. Everything from a little baby Jesus to skis, ribs or a frivolous, naked Santa Claus. As long as the music contains images that give us associations with Christmas, it automatically falls into this insanely heterogeneous category.
The wide range of genres within Christmas music has emerged in recent times. It doesn't take us very far back before the religious aspect of the holiday becomes all-consuming. This is not only clearly expressed in lyrics, but also musically.
– The real musical mission of Christmas was to create silence. In the great classical works, especially from the Baroque, that hint at Christmas, whether it's Bach's Christmas Oratorio or Handel's Messiah, there is complete silence, says Plagge.
These classic works aim to describe the classic atmospheric scene from the Christmas nativity scene, with the baby Jesus sleeping.
– It is very fascinating that almost all of this music is in a dotted six-eighths time signature. It is quite striking. It almost makes it necessary to stop, or walk neatly and decoratively around the Christmas tree. Almost everything that is made in this period for that type of use should be ostentatious, but on the contrary, quite quiet.
This is in stark contrast to modern Christmas music, which is mainly in a steady two or four-quarter time signature, which gives a completely different expression.
– It has gone from being “Shut up, and don't wake the kid” to “YEAH! As much mulled wine as possible!”. That says a lot about the development of Christmas music, and how Christmas is portrayed in music.
If you now feel that you have a Christmas song that wants to come out – dotted six-eighths time or not – Plagge has some tips for you.
– Make sure to create associations. It's cynical, but you can consciously use these tools. Whether it's rhythm, jingle bells, food, snow, etc. All of this creates atmosphere and drives associations.
He points out that despite the fact that Christmas is highly commercialized today, we are still attracted to songs that speak directly to us.
– The more specifically and aptly a text is, the more successful it is. If you feel directly addressed by a text, we must assume that there may be 100,000 others who also feel individually treated. Then you are right.
In other words: Choose a musical genre from the world of Christmas music, write a text that addresses the listener and create recognition and associations through familiar and beloved images. And remember, register the song in TONO as soon as it is written.
A very merry musical Christmas from us at TONO
