Much of what we know as Christmas music today was adopted from music initially created for other purposes that over time has become associated with the Christmas holiday. Many of the secular songs that are regarded as Christmas songs never mention anything about Christmas. These songs include favorites such as "Winter Wonderland," "Let it Snow," "Baby, It's Cold Outside," "Sleigh Ride," and "Jingle Bells."
Many of these songs carry no Christmas connotation at all. They fall into the generic "winter" classification. These winter-themed songs are generally not played on the radio in the US during the larger part of the winter after the Christmas season has ended. They may receive limited radio airplay on some stations after a significant snow event.
Classical music, too, has been adopted as Christmas music. Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker comprises a set of secular orchestral pieces often performed at Christmastime. Perhaps the most famous Christmas music of all, Handel's "Messiah," was written for an Easter performance in 1742 in Ireland, and performed from 1750 until Handel's death for the Foundling Hospital for orphans around Eastertime.
Novelty Christmas Songs
Another form of popular Christmas music are those songs solely for comical effect, usually classified as "Novelty songs." The best known of these include:
"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth"
"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"
"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas"
"Nuttin' For Christmas"
"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)"
"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
"The Twelve Days of Christmas"
Traditionally, radio stations, particularly those with an adult contemporary or easy listening format, began adding some Christmas-themed selections to their regular playlists around Thanksgiving each year and aired Christmas music all day on December 24?25. Since the mid-1990s, however, it has become increasingly common for many stations to switch their programming to continuous Christmas music around December 1. This practice became even more common after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, when many radio stations across the US sought a sort of musical "comfort food."
Satellite radio providers XM and Sirius typically devote numerous temporary channels to different genres of Christmas music during the holiday season. AOL Radio also devotes similar channels and even features a year-round Christmas music channel. ABC Radio produces The Christmas Channel, which is a 24-hour network, during the holiday season. Music Choice offers a "Sounds of the Season" channel to its digital cable and cable modem subscribers.
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