As the vocalist in a lovely jazz trio at a party the other night led us in “Silver Bells,” with its echo in “It’s Christmastime in the city,” I was struck but the beauty of the lyric’s repeated sibilants. They simply sparkle and produce a visual impression of tiny white lights on an icy night.
The song returned to my mind while shoveling snow a few days later, and this time I was captivated by the appropriateness of the adjective “silver.” Not “gold” or “brass” but silver. Again, there’s a visual impression, but this time, also a suggestion of bright clear sound. Gold, in contrast, would somehow make me expect something more velvety or reserved or distant, while brass would point toward a louder, stronger, more industrial tone.
Yes, the poet in me is still wowed at that choice of “silver.”
Would any other word do the trick?
Jnana's Red Barn 
And yet “s” sounds can so often be tricky for a choir! The one I sing in forbids all but one section to sing any of the s-es on the ends of words, lest all the audience hear be ss-sss-ss–ssss….
Definitely. And my director doesn’t want to hear the word “the,” either.
By the way, happy “choir-ing” this week. Anglican choruses seem to be made for it.