The many shapes of sacredness

I’m generally adverse to Christmas music. There are plenty of reasons for this, yet writing about my low tolerance for seasonal music seems annoying, a churlish gesture in this month with no point but to be contrarian. Viva all who crank the Yuletide tunes!

The other night, Amy and I were in the car while choring when on a whim she pulled up a video of “O Holy Night” performed by The Choir of King's College, in Cambridge. It’s her favorite Christmas song, and I love it, too. The song’s history is...