It is inescapable this time of year. The sound of Christmas holiday music pervades every store in every mall, echoes in every elevator, provides background for every other TV commercial, and of course blares from every radio station. Those who love the music of the season are given a continual concert of those familiar tunes that have become an essential part of the traditions of Christmas. Those who are less enchanted by the never-ending repetition of those same familiar tunes must find strategies to cope with hearing yet another rousing rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer."

On witf radio, we also get caught up in the music-making festivity of the season. We do put on the air a goodly selection of holiday programs and seasonal music on "Classical Air." But over the years of revisiting the same Christmas music selections, we have tried to develop ways to strike a balance between the different aspects of the music.

Yes, we do play the sugarplums to delight our ears: the selections from The Nutcracker, the Leroy Anderson Sleigh Ride, the Canadian Brass playing a version of "Frosty the Snowman" which audibly melts at the end. You know, the fun stuff, the happy stuff, the pieces that bring a smile to the face. It wouldn’t be Christmas without a little indulgence in such sweets, and we sprinkle them in liberally. But we always try to seek out performances and arrangements that have something special about them, something that lifts them a cut above the background mall music. Performers such as cellist Yo Yo Ma and violinist Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg have shown us in their Christmas albums that they can make music both delightful and virtuosic, both traditional and novel, all at the same time. And we seek out these special kinds of recipes from such musicians. Over the years we’ve found a lot of them, and they tend to keep their freshness.

But the season is about more than festive partying, and there is a vast body of music to reflect the sacred side of Christmas. There are the great choral Magnificats, Glorias, oratorios and cantatas by such composers as Bach, Vivaldi, Handel, Rutter and others. There are gorgeous Ave Maria settings. There are early carols performed by period instruments, and carols that are from other countries. There are new pieces written. This music, while some of it may be well known, does not suffer from the over-familiarity of traditional carols. For some, it can be especially meaningful to hear at this time of year. But for anyone who appreciates great choral music, listening to it can be a memorable experience. We try to dip into this body of music each year, exploring different works. We are often guided by new recordings that are released of various pieces, both old and new.

At witf, the goal is always to find a good balance. We work for a balance in the selections between the sacred and the secular, between the festive and the reflective, between the instrumental and the vocal, between the light-hearted and the serious, and between the seasonal and the non-seasonal.

That’s the goal, and it’s always elusive of course. But that gives us something to strive for. We’d love to hear your comments, your favorite pieces, your memorable musical experiences and even your most hated holiday pieces. Post your thoughts or questions here below, and we’ll try to respond to them.