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God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Brass Quintet
Beginning simply with solo tuba, the trombone then takes the melody and the tuba adds a chromatic bass line setting the mood of this well known carol. A brief canon leads to the middle section, brighter in tempo, and using fragments of the carol. And then, a rollicking 3/4 version (in one) with the carol joyous and unexpectedly Lydian.
Christmas is a celebration of joy and exuberance and this clever arrangement will absolutely delight your audience.
Thanks to the Vista Brass Quintet for recording this piece. My gift to you is the complete recording. Please note that it is under the Hear an Excerpt as there is no charge.
The Vista Brass Quintet performers:
Emily Lawyer, Tim Winfield – Trumpet
Anne Marie Cherry – Horn
Charles Lilly – Trombone
Todd Eames – Bass TromboneComposer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: 2 Bb Trumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 4:00 / 21 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A -
Good King Wenceslas – Brass Quintet
Good King Wenceslas is an unusual Christmas carol in that its text makes no mention of the Nativity. Instead, the carol recounts an act of beneficence which took place around St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th). This arrangement for brass quintet musically accompanies the procession of the sainted King and his page on their benevolent journey.
The mp3 excerpt is performed by the Sine Nomine Brass Quintet. (Used with permission.)
Composer: Mark Questad
Instrumentation: 2 Bb Trumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 3:40 / 13 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: F-Eb-F -
Il est né, le devin Enfant – Brass Quintet
Il est né, le devin Enfant, a French Christmas carol, occupies an unusual position between the secular and the sacred. Suitably, this instrumental version can find a place on different types of programs. A joyous carol, the text of the chorus tells us to celebrate by playing oboes and sounding bagpipes.
The mp3 excerpt is performed by the Sine Nomine Brass Quintet. (Used with permission.)
Composer: Mark Questad
Instrumentation: 2 Bb Trumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 3:40 / 13 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: C-Db -
In dulci jubilo – Brass Quintet
In dulci jubilo is a traditional Christmas carol from the Middle Ages, first appearing in a manuscript dating from c.1400. It has been arranged by many composers, including Michael Praetorius in the 1600s, Buxtehude, Franz Liszt and Norman Dello Joio, to name just a few. An English translation from the original text that alternated Medieval German and Latin by J. M. Neale became known as Good Christian Men, Rejoice.
Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a choral version (BWV 368), and a double canon (BWV 608) and chorale prelude (BWV 729) for organ. There is also a chorale prelude for organ based on a naive cradle-song version that was once used in the mystery plays held in churches at Christmas time. Although attributed to Bach, the cradle-song version (BWV 751) has never been authenticated.
This arrangement includes two versions, playable as one piece or separately, and begins with the cradle-song style. The simplicity as well as the imitation in the tuba pedal is quite charming and rather unexpected when compared to Bach’s usual complexity. The second version is based on the chorale prelude for organ and is a traditional postlude for Christmas services.
In the Complete Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach, edited by Edouard Nies-Berger and Dr. Albert Schweitzer, they state that the harmonizations of chorales were not usually written out as the figured bass was enough. These editors also assumed that Bach had a reason and suggest that he wrote them for his own satisfaction or, more likely, for use with his pupils in the course of instruction in thorough-bass playing.
Composer: Anne McGinty
Instrumentation: 2 BbTrumpets, F Horn, Trombone & Tuba
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 3:20 / 22 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: F
