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Aidan McGartland, PhD candidate, Music Theory, McGill University

From bells to choirs, different ‘timbres’ ring in the Christmas holiday season

Olivier Messiaen Jesus Mariah Carey Sinéad OConnor Tchaikovsky McGill University
The timbre of bells are typified by a bright, ringing, metallic sound. (Shutterstock)

Concerts and radio stations at this time of year are filled with both Christmas and winter holiday music.

It would be impossible to define “Christmas music” beyond the use of specific religious texts or winter narratives, yet many genres of western Christmas and winter holiday music have a “Christmas sound” — whether pop songs, classical works or traditional hymns.

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