"Over dinner after a screening of the new film Hamnet, my friend Nancy told me she was surprised that the movie, which concerns the agonizing death of William Shakespeare's only son, didn't make me cry. "I don't know what to tell you," I said. Then I went home, opened Spotify on my phone, and hit "Play" on the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas. I fell asleep to the record with wet eyes."
"Getting verklempt, that is. Mostly, I think, it's the mood the album evokes, one that feels familiar but foreign; cold but cozy; festive but reflective; spiritual but secular. The soft piano strokes and wire brushes of "Christmas Time Is Here" convey a lament and a welcoming: sorrow, perhaps, for the difficulty of the season, and the offer of a soft place to land."
A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack evokes bittersweet nostalgia, blending melancholy and warmth through soft piano, wire brushes, descending twinkling notes, and percussive energy. The album conveys sorrow and welcome in "Christmas Time Is Here," quiet wonder in "Skating," and convivial anticipation in "Christmas Is Coming." The cover of "What Child Is This" adds a contemplative moment. The soundtrack can provoke tears and a deep emotional response. The album marks its 60th anniversary and helped shape holiday rituals. Growing up near Sacramento without snow, family rituals included buying a fir tree, hanging stockings, and watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, which transported viewers to a flat, wintry world of skating children.
Read at The Atlantic
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