Unique Holiday Songs to Play That Aren't "Jingle Bells"

Sure, classic holiday songs like "Jingle Bells" and "So This Is Christmas" have their place. But every once in a while, it can be nice to shake up the playlist with some more interesting tunes. To learn songs to play that you can seriously impress your friends and family with while you open presents, we spoke to Alex Canovas, the Artistic Director of the Young New Yorkers' Chorus (YNYC) which delighted our residents this holiday season with caroling in all of our New York buildings.

At YNYC's most recent holiday concert, "Holiday Modulations," they sang a medley of different choral tunes, some of which were the familiar songs we all know and love, and some of them somewhat more obscure. "All the songs were holiday related, but it wasn't your typical carols about Christmas," Canovas said, "The concert was focused on change and the world changing around us."

Listen to the beautiful recordings of the songs from the concert below.

The Young New Yorker's Chorus performed in Related buildings.

"Christmas at the Cloisters" by John Corigliano (Mixed Ensemble): According to Canovas, this song is a "frenetic depiction of traveling up to the Cloisters at holiday time." Listen now.

"Sure on this Shining Night" by Morten Lauridsen (Mixed Ensemble): While not strictly a Christmas song, this piece is based on a James Agee poem of the same name, and celebrates the connection we have with the natural world, which is a wonderful thing to reflect upon during the holiday season. Listen now.

"There Is No Rose" by Eleanor Daley (Women's Ensemble): Based on an anonymous poem from 1420, "There Is No Rose" has been set to music many times, most famously by Benjamin Britten in his "Ceremony of Carols." Canovas chose this Daley's version in order "explore a different take on a very popular choral piece." Listen now.  

"Nativity Carol" by John Rutter (Women's Ensemble): This song may be the most traditional Christmas-themed of the bunch, and is a great one to add to the holiday repertoire. Listen now.

Listen to more of the Young New Yorker's Chorus music here. And if you'd like to see them live, you can check out their "Metropolis" tour, taking place in different boroughs in New York throughout the 2020 season.

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