Song of the Day 12/15: Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”

One reason we get sick of holiday music is that retail stores pump out slick, often treacly pop versions of songs we’ve all heard a thousand times. The problem isn’t so much the songs as how they’re presented.

The same tunes you hate hearing at Target sound much fresher when played by a jazz combo or classical orchestra. For classical renditions of old carols you can’t beat the holiday LPs recorded by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. “The Glorious Sound of Christmas,” released in 1962, is the best-known, but “A Christmas Festival” from 1964 is nearly as good. As the video demonstrates, some of the tracks have also turned up on other compilation albums over the years, and they always class up the atmosphere.

BTW, I’ve always wondered why somebody didn’t use the title of this carol for one of those Christmas horror movies.