Christmas Duet #3: Bring in the Bagpipes
Dec 21st, 2019 by Kimberly
Today marks the darkest day of the year. Every year, I count the days until December 21 rolls around, because I know after this the light starts to come back. There’s something creepy about going to work and coming home in the dark, especially during the times when I’ve worked in an office that didn’t have windows. It makes sense to me that all cultures have a celebration in the middle of winter that involves light. We need the hope that it will return, that we won’t be left to wander in darkness.
Most of the time, I love the brighter and funnier holiday music, but on this dark day, I feel drawn to the melancholy beauty of a traditional Irish carol. I came across this version of the Wexford Carol a few years ago and fell in love. Alison Krauss, Yo-Yo Ma and Natalie MacMaster sound like they were handpicked by heaven to bring this tune to life, but the bagpipes steal my heart. I don’t normally love the bagpipes. They have a tendency to sound like a hypochondriacal cow giving her last will and testament for the fourteenth time. Artist Cristina Pato, however, proves that a little bovine Münchausen syndrome can hit the spot. I savor those sorrowful chords.
In my mythical Christmas album, I’d share this song with my friend Lyda, the pastor of my church. We’d have to adapt it, since she plays the harp and not the cello, but I think it could work. (Or more accurately, not the cello to my knowledge. I’ve seen her play the harp, the piano, the recorder, the flute and the banjo, so it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she played the cello and just hadn’t thought to mention it.) Her voice and mine blend well together, so perhaps we could record part of the vocals in harmony. She has the long, cornsilk blonde hair of your stereotypical angel, but it’s her devilish sense of humor that I enjoy the most. I think the two of us could have a great day recording hauntingly beautiful music and giggling. Oh, and drinking really good hot chocolate, all velvety and rich, warming up your soul along with your stomach. If I told her in advance, she’d probably even learn to play the bagpipes for the recording session. She wanted to learn the bagpipes anyway.
Hot chocolate and bagpipes? I’m not sure it gets better than that.
Kimberly wishes you good music, good friends and good hot chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.
