A Charlie Brown Christmas is Officially Important, musicwise

Each year, the U.S. Library of Congress names a set of audio recordings that are of historical importance, and this year’s announcement of 25 new inductees includes the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas!

The announcement notes:

“A Charlie Brown Christmas” introduced jazz to millions of listeners. The television soundtrack album includes expanded themes from the animated “Peanuts” special of the same name as well as jazz versions of both traditional and popular Christmas music, performed primarily by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The original music is credited to pianist Guaraldi and television producer Lee Mendelson. Best remembered is the “Linus and Lucy” theme, originally composed by Guaraldi for an earlier “Peanuts” project, which remains beloved by fans of the popular television specials, those devoted to the daily newspaper comic strip and music lovers alike.

If you want a copy for your own personal Library of Peanuts, you can order the standard edition on CD, or the expanded edition on CD or as downloadable MP3s.

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