With such a diversity of styles and artists in the Christmas carol repertoire, there are plenty of styles in the mix to keep these consecutive holiday-themed posts lively and fresh. And even though Brittany’s done such a thorough job rounding out beautiful voice-focused tracks (Susan Boyle and "Ave Maria"), here’s another one in the same vein.
You might call "O Holy Night" the "National Anthem" of Christmas carols: everyone’s sung it at some point, but it’s difficult to perform, much less well. Country music siren Martina McBride belts it as well, if not better, than anyone. Anyone. (That includes you, NSYNC, though your unique attempt is still pretty cool.)
The song is one of my all-time favorite carols. It’s just so clean, simple and beautiful, devoid of camp and pumped-up production. Every Christmas Eve at the church my family goes to, a soprano performs the solo with traditional organ accompaniment. The only way I can think to describe her voice is as powerfully glistening, a vibrant vibrato making the absolute most of each sustained note. When she begins the song’s climactic verse, I get chills. Spine-tingling, hair-raising, tear-jerking chills. Every time. Now Martina, she’s right up there.
Part of what I love about this song is that it exposes a voice and a singer as truly great or just so-so. Martina may only have been named the CMA’s "Female Vocalist of the Year" a record-tying four times (along with Reba, natch), but her voice, a set of pipes to rival most church organs, could hold its own in any genre – except for maybe Mongolian throat singing. She lays it all out in this performance; she’s holding nothing back, yet she's entirely in control, like MJ driving the lane or MS frosting a cake: it’s a good thing. What you hear with Martina is what you get, and if you’ve never heard her before, you’ll love what you get.
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