Mannheim Steamroller’s rendition of Little Drummer Boy is another one of those songs that I’d put in the running for my all-time favorite. It starts with a simple snare drum and progressively adds on layers of other instruments, first synths and then later transitioning to acoustic instruments, so the tambre evolves to become more “real” over the course of the song. By the time the song’s climax rolls around, there are several interacting layers of rhythm, but they blend together amazingly well. Whenever a composer manages to pull off that kind of complexity, I’m all ears.

You can now get the entire series of songs as a Spotify playlist.