MUSIC: 10 christmas songs definitely getting you in the mood for the holiday season.

to celebrate the holiday season and to get in the mood for christmas, what is better than listening to the perfect christmas soundtrack?

here are my personal fab 10 christmas carol playlist definitely being able to getting you in the mood!

how do you like my playlist
do you have a favourite christmas song?

1. oh holy night - my favourite version is from ella fitzgerald. brings tears to my eyes every time i listen to it. it's so full of devotion, hope, and also a bit of melancholy. also the favourite christmas carol of david garrett.
2. my favourite things - from the sound of music. for me the perfect christmas song because it talks of so many things brightening up the beautiful holiday season.
3. 12 days of christmas - fiiiive goooolden riiiiings! i must admit that first i didn't like the song because it annoyed me. no joke! but after some listenings i embosomed it and have loved it from this moment on. my favourite version is sung by kathleen battle and frederica von stade from a carnegie hall christmas concert.
4. walking in the air - from the snowman. no matter if sung or solely the piano instrumental: both versions are so beautiful, no matter if you have watched the movie or not. the overwhelmingly beautiful harmonies in a minor key will bring tears in your eyes and the lyrics are wonderfully touching.
5. hark! the herald angels sing - a christmas carol classic. this song shouldn't be missed out on a traditional holiday season playlist.
6. maria durch ein dornwald ging - once sung in my choir when i was in my young teenage tears, this carol never let me go anymore. i love the ancient medieval harmonies which are most beautiful and touching when sung by a childrens choir of soprano and tenor voices. when i heard this song for the very first time, i imagined holy mary wandering through the gardens of thorns, which miraculously turned into beautiful blossoms. this is the wonder of faith - it can move mountains and turn thorns into flowers ... and give hope, where there seems nothing to hope anymore.
7. ave maria - by johann sebastian bach and gounod. wonderfully soothing harmonies. magical, with or without the lyrics. a beautiful homage to holy mary. and a genuine evidence that bach's music is perfused with feeling and not aseptic and cold, as many people like to state. 
8. in the bleak midwinter - a wonderful christmas carol. the lyrics are based upon a poem written by christina rossetti. in 1906 gustav holst (composer of 'jupiter, bringer of jollity') set the beautiful poem to music - what a beautiful unification! so devout and soothing. my favourite version is sung by sissel, the wonderful soprano singer from norway, who has also sung my favourite poem by lord gordon byron, 'she walks in beauty like the night' as set in music in the phantastic movie 'vanity fair', starring reese witherspoon.
9. last christmas - by wham. a favourite of mine, every year, since the day i have heard it for the very first time when i was still in my young teenage years.
10. the christmas song - my favourite version is sung by nat king cole. such a must-listen-to ... 

'although it's been said many times, many ways: 

merry christmas to you'

have a wonderful holiday season.

don't forget to participate in the best of the blogs competition for january 2015!