Christmas Fantasy

Vocal score
ISBN: 978-0-19-357810-4
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 32 Seiten, Format (B × H): 206 mm x 278 mm, Gewicht: 10 g

for SATB and piano or brass quintet, percussion, and organ

This sparkling work draws together four well-known carols reflecting the joys of being together with friends and loved ones to celebrate the festive season, with hopes for brighter times ahead. Higgins's lively arrangement of Deck the hall begins with a virtuosic instrumental introduction and features a soprano descant on the final verse. Next, Carol of the Bells employs the glockenspiel in the famous repeating four-note motif, with Higgins bringing a fresh take to this notable melody through new words and an imaginative use of the choir to portray the chiming bells. O Christmas tree, is warm and gentle, with a new text and the opportunity for a charismatic solo verse over a rich cushion of harmonies. The final movement, Here we come a-wassailing, is full of merriment, and, reflecting its composition during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown, contains a subtle nod at the close towards the chaos of trying to sing 'together' online.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Higgins, Michael

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Vokalmusik, Chormusik

Über Autor(innen)

Michael Higgins is a pianist, composer, and arranger, and is Artistic Director of the professional chamber choir Sonoro. With a special interest in choral accompaniment, Michael is in demand with some of the leading choirs in the country and works with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, London Voices, and the BBC Singers. As a composer and arranger, he has written for Farnham Youth Choir, the National Children's Choir of Great Britain, as well as music for television, corporate films, and commercials. Many of his works are published by the Royal School of Church Music, Novello, and Oxford University Press. Michael studied piano at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest.