“A Charlie Brown Christmas” Captures Good Feelings For Everyone, Including the Bereaved

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” an animated, half-hour special starring the Peanuts gang, first aired on December 9th, 1965. It was an instant hit, and its viewing has become a solid holiday tradition for many. A quintessential feel-good film for the holiday season, it can make almost anyone, including the bereaved, experience some measure of good cheer. And the score — a mix of Christmas music and jazz — is just as beloved as the television special itself.

Composed and performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, the studio album introduced millions to jazz, including myself. It has been honored by both the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry and the Grammy Hall of Fame, marking its cultural impact.

 Original Songs in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”

The music can be uplifting for someone who is grieving,  bringing back happy memories of holidays past. The album features three original songs composed by Guaraldi and recorded with himself on piano, Monty Budwig on bass, and Colin Bailey on drums. The opening scene features the first original song, “Christmas Time is Here,” a slow waltz that is both melancholy and contemplative. It appears on the album as an instrumental and vocal track. The television producer, Lee Mendelson, is credited with writing the lyrics to the song on the backside of an envelope in fifteen minutes. The children’s chorus is provided by the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Choir of San Rafael, California.

New Arrangements of Old Standards 

Aside from a feature of Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” the rest of the score includes Guaraldi’s arrangements of Christmas standards. His arrangement of “O Tannenbaum” is one of my favorites. Beginning simply enough with the piano, it quickly transforms into a toe-tapping, head-bobbing jazz trip when the drummer Colin Bailey and bassist Monty Budwig join in and Guaraldi lets it fly on the keys.

While the final message of the television special is solidly set in the Christian tradition, Vince Guaraldi Trio’s album, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” provides much more. It gives us the gift of jazz and shows us how simply and vividly a piano, bass, and drum can capture the complexities of human emotions, traditions, and stories. For someone who is suffering bereavement this holiday season, that’s a truly special gift.