December Books, Day 17: Singing around the piano

l grew up in a family that sang, not just at church and at concerts (my dad was in a men's choir) but at home.  My parents sang to us.  At the trailer in summer we sang silly songs around the campfire.  And at Christmas there was always someone, usually my uncle, who would play the hurtin' piano at Grandma's while we sang carols.

Now I have several of the family carol books, and I still use them.  I don't have a picture of one of my favourites:  Carols of Christmas, compiled and edited by G. Roy Fenwick, copyright 1946 but I think our copy might be from the '50's.  I remember our church after-school group (Messengers, for any of you who grew up in the United Church) singing "Whence, O Shepherd Maiden?" and acting out the Christmas story for our parents, using the music from my mom's copy of this book.  (I was about four at the time--I played Joseph.  Maybe I have a photo of that around somewhere.)

Oh, Leila Fletcher.  We grew up on Leila Fletcher, as did about half the kids I knew who took piano lessons.  My kids use yard-saled Leila Fletcher books too.  This one is copy right 1953, and is specially arranged so even raw beginners can find something seasonal to play.  (Think of that little girl practicing and practicing in It's a Wonderful Life.)

This is a thrift-shopped copy of Mervyn Horder's On Christmas Day: First Carols to Play and Sing.  It came out in 1969, so there are lots of oranges and pinks and flowers that look like lollipops.  But the carols are slightly unusual ones and the arrangements are very pretty, though not difficult.  This is the only book I have that has the music for "How Far is't to Bethlehem?", which was written by G.K. Chesterton's wife Alice, who used to work for Charlotte Mason before she ran off to marry Chesterton.

Your standard Whitman/Golden around-the-piano book, handed down from my parents...the cover of ours is coming off, but I am not about to get rid of it.  Karl Schulte's arrangements have been used with various illustrations and covers over the years; this edition has F.D. Lohman's 1938 illustrations, meaning that Mary looks like Myrna Loy.

But this is really where we go when we want serious Christmas hymns--two of our copies even have shaped notes.  Everybody should have at least one hymn book around, if for nothing else than using at Christmas time.  If you don't (and hymnals are easy to find at thrift shops), can I recommend HymnTime.com?  (We used to link to Cyberhymnal, but HymnTime requests that you use their site now instead.)