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Read on to discover BBC Music Magazine<\/em>‘s 10 essential Christmas albums, as chosen by our writers….<\/strong><\/p> The standard wisdom is that, in our increasingly commercialised world, Christmas begins earlier and earlier every year. And, frankly, it\u2019s true, as will be attested to by anyone who has walked into a garden centre in mid-October, only to find themselves surrounded by a tinsel-bedecked festive display complete with singing reindeer. The temptation is to stick your hands over your ears, shout \u2018la la la, can\u2019t hear you\u2019 and ignore the whole kaboosh right up until the day itself.\u00a0<\/p> But let\u2019s break away from this familiar scene. Picture instead that magic moment \u2013 typically on Christmas Eve for many of us \u2013 when, with all the manic seasonal hustle and bustle done, one can actually sit down, pause a little and reflect on the occasion and what it really means. A glass of something special usually helps as, of course, does the perfect choice of music. For this purpose, we asked ten of our writers to tell us about the albums that, year in year out and despite the passage of time, can always be guaranteed to get them into the Christmas spirit. Time to sit back and relax\u2026<\/p> Memories as deep as any stir when I reach for conductor Paul McCreesh<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s reconstruction of Praetorius<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Lutheran Mass for Christmas Morning, \u2018as it might have been celebrated around 1620\u2019. Holding the album is sufficient to conjure images of a winter visit made long ago to Roskilde Cathedral, where it was recorded in the early 1990s. And the sound of a solo voice emerging from silence to sing Martin Luther<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s processional hymn<\/a><\/strong> Christum wir sollen loben schon<\/em> is all it takes to rekindle childhood feelings of the wonder of Christmas. The recording\u2019s epic scale, with Praetorius\u2019s music for antiphonal voices and instruments, preludes played on an organ originally built in the early 1550s and the overwhelming conviction of its congregational singing, dovetails with the music\u2019s liturgical setting to create a uniquely sublime union of public celebration and personal reflection.<\/p>
1. Essential Christmas albums… Andrew Stewart<\/h2>