CHRISTMAS is rich with customs. We each have our own. Presents, for instance, must be opened at a fixed point: pre-dawn for children, dusk for weary cooks. Alongside tickets for the panto or The Nutcracker, divisive boardgames and a lone tangerine in the toe of a stocking, these traditions amass over time to create individual versions of the feast. The alchemy is rarely questioned, however, as the origins begin to blur, and that is certainly true of the music that provides the soundtrack and focus of our celebrations. Musically, Christmas is a luxuriantly international affair, with a disparate repertoire.
At one end of the spectrum are the relentless janglings of commercialism, the sleigh bells and shop bells vying for supremacy. At the other, and mixed with screeds of Latin, these pieces have now been applied to different ends and become more fluid, like a melodious version of my favourite box of New Berry Fruits.
