American Folk Songs for Christmas

"American Folk Songs for Christmas" is compiled by the American folk song collector and female composer Ruth Crawford Seeger. Her famous companions include John and Alan Lomax, and her step-son Pete Seeger. The published book provides Ms Crawford-Seeger's  piano arrangements of the tunes. For the musicology minded, there are notes on the histories of the songs as well as performance notes.  Her daughters recorded a sampling of this collection including unaccompanied and accompanied performances.

The collection is representative of the varied folk history of the US.  Songs from Ireland collected in Texas to shape note songs in Maryland, "American Folk Songs for Christmas". My personal favorite is the "Twelve Apostles".  This cumulative song has variations including "Green Grow the Rushes-O", "The Dilly Song", and "Come and I Will Sing You".

When it comes to the holiday season, music educators have to navigate the hazy ground of multiple cultures and holiday traditions.  There are also the promise of pre-packaged programs.  Each holiday season, I like to look at the different collections of programs and scripts.  Many of them have good structure and story line.  I use these for inspiration for my own programs.  First a general idea of a theme appears, then folk songs pedagogically appropriate for each grade level, finished off with short dialog.  The students are given ownership with costumes, props, and decorations.

Holidays can be stressful times for musicians.  Be sure to take time to de-stress and relax this holiday season!