The Sussex Carol is a Christmas carol popular in Britain, sometimes referred to by its first line “On Christmas night all Christians sing”. It became associated with Sussex because it was collected at Monk’s Gate by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and he subsequently used it in his Fantasia on Christmas Carols.

Each verse is made up of two couplets, with the second having three-measure phrasing rather than the standard two- or four-bar phrasing. In addition, there’s a measure with an extra beat, which adds to the charm of the piece.

Composer: Bill Reichenbach
Instrumentation: Bassoon Quartet
Duration/# of Pages: ca. 2:20 / 11 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
Key: N/A