December 20, 2011

Keith and Kristyn Getty release is an authentic beauty

Floating up to the top of my neglected “things to do” pile is a new Christmas album I should have found sooner…

Joy - An Irish Christmas by Keith and Kristyn Getty is so good I am kicking myself for not writing a timely review! Readers who are unfamiliar with this talented Northern Irish couple might recognize at least one of their many modern hymns, “In Christ Alone.”

This offering on the couple’s own label (Getty Music) is a musically rich, authentically beautiful mix of carols and original Christmas hymns. Produced by Grammy winner Phil Naish (Steven Curtis Chapman, Point of Grace),  Joy is packed with creative collaborations, including orchestral arrangements by J.A.C. Redford (Avatar, The Help), the Irish Film orchestra, Ireland’s National Choir, and featured instrumentalists from Riverdance.  Musical influences are not limited to the Emerald Isle, notably incorporating Eastern European, Basque and American bluegrass flavors.

The joy that permeates this album is not the party “woo-hoo” variety elevated during holiday television commercials. The emotion expressed on Joy – An Irish Christmas is that of a soul’s leaping recognition of life-changing news. What the Gettys have also accomplished on this album is to capture the reverence, the holiness of an event that changed the world forever 2,000 years ago.

Christmas in Ireland
A personal reflection by Kristyn Getty

Growing up in Northern Ireland, Christmas was always a family time and a special church time. It was a rest from everyday life, but a rush to get all the preparations done. A time to hope that maybe it would snow (although it only ever has a few times in my life so far); a time when peace was talked about more in light of the conflicts in our country; a time for singing carols and being with people you hadn’t seen for a while. Overall, it was a time for remembering Christmases past; singing songs I have always sung; hearing the Story told again…

My mum takes great joy in decorating our family home for Christmas, and her excitement is contagious! Each year the older pieces would come out – memories of times past – and then there would be newer pieces just bought to find places for. By mid-December we had a whole new vocabulary on the doors and walls; the words hope, joy, peace and love were everywhere.

The sentiment and fun of the Christmas season is wonderful, but these words reach deeper, finding people wherever they are and however they feel, which is often disconnected from how our culture says we should feel at Christmastime. We love being together and sharing wonderful memories, but we also gather around tables that are missing loved ones who have gone to be with the Lord, or those facing struggles that can’t be quickly solved, carrying worries and fears – as well as hope into the new year.

The Christmas story speaks to all these things:  comfort in the Love that reaches to the deepest sigh, Hope that will not deceive or be stolen from us, Joy that can be found on the road where He leads us - because Messiah has come, and with Him comes peace to our troubled world. †