From Huffington (several Episcopal connections here)I was six when I fell in love with Christmas carols, especially American Christmas songs. That year, the nuns in the Philadelphia orphanage where I lived took me to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The crowded chapel, the altar crèche, the scent of balsam trees--it was intoxicating!
But something else thrilled me even more: the music--soaring, majestic religious carols filled me with peace, joy and hope. It was a feeling, a deep spiritual warmth, I'd never experienced, living as I did, without a family, without a sense of belonging.
That night, I felt part of something--something much bigger than me. Where did such beautiful music come from? The question stayed with me all my life.
Finally, in my sixties, I needed an answer. I decided to travel 4,000 miles, across seven states in nine days, to find the true stories behind those songs that held such deep meaning for me. I'd collected rare recordings of carols for decades--even compiling them into three richly illustrated book/CD boxed collections.
"I'm going to ask you the biggest favor of my life," I said to my wife, Renate, one September night after dinner. She knew better than anyone the influence Christmas carols had on me.
More here-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/guideposts/where-christmas-music-lived_b_2259717.html
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