Down Came An Angel - Music for Christmas

The music on this recording is drawn from American folk and popular sources but flows through the filter of my own experiences with the holiday season.**-** I grew up in the great melting pot of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I learned to appreciate a variety of traditions. The variety began in my own home, with a Protestant father and a Jewish mother. We had special holiday traditions all our own. Our tree, for example, was decorated with my grandmother's handmade felt birds, and our annual party featured carol singing to my piano accompaniment. Although those celebrations were secular, I also played for Christmas Eve services at my music teacher's church. During my school years, Harry Belafonte's great recording of spirituals, To Wish You a Merry Christmas, often filled our house. - Jacqueline Schwab