Listen To Foreign Holiday Tunes

Can you believe that the French Christmas song "Petit Papa
Noël" brings tears to my eyes? Then when I sing the German
Christmas carols, I feel the awe of a little girl thinking of
Christmas all over again.

Music has a powerful effect on our emotions. I'm sure you have
songs that you connect with memories of your childhood, a past
love, or a special time in your life. It's even more powerful
when you share music with family and friends.

Getting to know the music of another culture is a great way to
connect with the people who love it. It's very foreign at first,
because you might not feel much of anything listening to that
particular type of music. The more you listen to it, though, the
more you get used to it and start appreciating it, even if you
didn't fall in love with it from the get-go.

A great way to find out more about foreign holiday songs is to
get a list of titles and then go hunt for a recording on-line.
I've found some at the iTunes store, some on YouTube, and many
on Amazon as mp3 downloads.

To give you an orientation, I'll stick to the tradition I know,
which is Christmas, but you can find just about any holiday song
with the same search strategy.

Here are a few Christmas links with songs on About.com:

GERMAN
http://german.about.com/library/blmusik_cmas.htm

FRENCH
http://french.about.com/od/christmascarols/French_Christmas_Carols_Chants_de_Nol.htm


SPANISH
http://spanish.about.com/od/christmas/tp/navidad-musica.htm
and
http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishchristmascarols/a/carols.htm

You can listen to two of my favorite Christmas songs here:

Petit Papa Noël (French)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptdy3AbXd04&feature=related

Stille Nacht (Holy Night in German)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4puLybRGSAw

And here's a very popular Spanish Christmas song:

Los peces en el rí­o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K8WAXEPlz8

Merry Christmas and enjoy your holidays!


© 2008 Nathalie V. Fairbanks

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