Popular Music
Come On And Jingle Bell Rock to These Holiday Albums
It's peak winter holiday season and there are plenty of options for festive tunes, whether it's traditional carols or more recent songs, like Daveed Diggs' new hit, the hybrid rap-klezmer song "Puppy for Hanukkah," or Mariah Carey's 1994 blockbuster "All I Want for Christmas Is You," which has also been turned into a children's picture book and an animated children's film.
There are plenty of free musical options to access from the New York Public Library, whether it is listening to Christmas music digitally via the Naxos Music Library database, or requesting any one of the suggested CD holiday-related albums listed below. There's a wide range of genres offered in our music collection, including songs for children, country music, live performances by orchestras and classically-trained singers, Broadway musicals, pop, soul and more, with the occassional Hanukkah and Kwanzaa song. There's even one holiday album with American Sign Language instructions.
So whether you prefer to celebrate Christmas with Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Justin Bieber, Kacey Musgraves, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, or Charlie Brown and friends, feel free to skim the 40 album suggestions listed below.
Stay safe, warm and happy listening and/or holiday song-signing.
Children's Music
Christmas with the Chipmunks by David Seville
Honeyky Hanukah by Woody Guthrie, performed by The Klezmatics (children's picture book with music CD)
Peanuts Greatest Hits by Vince Guaraldi Trio
Sing 'n Sign Holiday Time with Gaia (with American Sign Language instructions)
Broadway Performances
Elf: The Musical, original Broadway cast recording
Irving Berlin's Holiday Inn, original Broadway cast recording
Rent, original Broadway cast recording
Classical Live Performances
Christmas in New York with Renee Fleming and various artists
A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert with Kathleen Battle, Frederica von Stade, Wynton Marsalis and André Previn
Christmas Concert with José Carreras
Christmas with Kiri Te Kanawau: Carols from Coventry
Christmas Oratorio by Johan Sebastian Bach
Christmas 'Round the World, with songs in English, Spanish, Italian, German and Czech with various artists
The Jessye Norman Collection: A Christmas Collection
Messiah by George Fredric Handel
Musical Gifts from Joshua Bell and Friends
Seasons of Light: Songs of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah and New Year
Christmas Carols, Country Music, Jazz, Pop and Soul Albums
The Classic Christmas Album with Tony Bennett
Christmas with Harry Belafonte
Christmas: A Season of Love with Idina Menzel
Christmas from the Blue Note, with various artists
The Christmas Collection with Il Divo
The Christmas Song with Nat King Cole
Christmas Songs with Diana Krall
Country Christmas with various artists
Elvis Christmas with Elvis Presley
Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano with various artists, including Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan, Christina Aguilera and Ricky Martin
It's a Holiday Soul Party with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings
My Christmas with Andrea Bocelli
Sending You a Little Christmas by Johnny Mathis
Ultimate Christmas with Frank Sinatra
Under the Mistletoe with Justin Bieber
A Very Kacey Christmas with Kacey Musgraves
White Christmas Blue with Loretta Lynn
Wonderland with Sarah McLaughlin
Other holiday music blog posts from the New York Public Library:
- The Top 18 Christmas Carols, Ranked by Nicholas Parker
- Find Christmas Albums at the Library by Lillian Calix
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