Christmas Songbook

The nieces (ages 6 and 9) joined me on the piano bench at my parents' house today to sing and play Christmas songs. The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook was our guide. They used the index to find songs, locating their favorites. Both were intrigued that two page numbers were listed for each song. One guided the musicians to the actual music. The other went to the page where historical notes about the song were found. We learned, for example, that "Jingle Bells" was originally composed for a Thanksgiving program in 1857 and was called "The One Horse Open Sleigh." We had to sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" (introduced in 1949 at Madison Square Garden by Johnny Marks) twice. What a holiday treat to be surrounded by sweet young voices at the piano on which I learned to play!