AVE MARIA

Here, i'll give y'all something to tut-tut and cluck about . . .

I love Christmas music . . . here's why . . .

My favorite music is either true rock and roll, played with virtuosity, or what people refer to as "classical." Mostly, because rock on the radio sucks, i listen to orchestral and chamber music on the radio. I avoid malls like the black death, so i'm not exposed to the jingly crap that eventually grates on anyone's last nerve--no elevator "seasonal" music for me.

A "classical" station still plays its standard list of Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Neo-Classical and Modern orchestral and chamber music, and interspersed will be first-rate performances of Christmas music. I consider the human voice to be the finest of musical instruments, and when it comes to "classical" music, the art song puts all but the very best of pop performers to shame. I have lots of happy associations with this music from my days as a wide-eyed liddly, and the quality of the Christmas songs i hear is of the best.

Right now, i've got Oh Holy Night and Shubert's Ave Maria going through my head--i heard them both hours ago, but they have lingered. I don't mind at all--as i said, i avoid the places where they drive you crazy with this crap, and the religious crapola attached is something i can easily ignore. The rendition of Oh Holy Night was done by a tenor whose name i did not catch--but of the highest quality. The Shubert Ave Maria was sung by Luciano Pavarotti--and it doesn't get sung any better than that.

There are those who say they hate Christmas music . . . i pity the fool . . .