12/14/01
Sarasota, FL

Each Season, some company attempts to span the decades of holiday music with a compilation of favorites….and most often falls short….

But for timeless carols and songs (no contemporary tuneage here, dude) and immaculate presentation, nothing this season holds a candle to Ronald M. Clancy’s "Best-Loved Christmas Carols" and "American Christmas Classics."

The former contains a CD of 25 carols and a songbook with musical scores and artwork from the Old Masters, while the latter has three CDs and the lyrics to all 47 songs. But it’s the accompanying hard-bound books that make these somewhat pricey collections fascinating. Clancy has researched the carols and holiday songs, tracing origins, relating tales of their impact ("O Holy Night" was disparaged by church officials for its lack of musical taste) and making them come alive again.