The Christmas Waltz

Written in 1954 at the request of Frank Sinatra, who wanted a new waltz-time Christmas song to record, this became one of the most beloved holiday standards of the postwar era. Cahn’s lyric weaves together the sights and sounds of Christmas with the warmth of romantic love, the waltz tempo giving it an elegance that sets it apart from the era’s more boisterous holiday fare.

Recordings by Peggy Lee and the Carpenters confirmed its status as a true standard — one of the handful of post-war Christmas songs that feels as permanent as the classics it joined.