?The Holly and the Ivy? is an English traditional Christmas carol whose text features imagery from both pagan and Christian beliefs. By ancient tradition, holly was considered a masculine symbol while ivy was feminine; and in the lyrics of the carol each characteristic of the holly is symbolic of Jesus. The holly?s lily-white flower = Jesus? purity; its red berry = Jesus? blood or humanity; its prickle = Jesus? crown of thorns or suffering; its bitter bark = the bitter drink Jesus was offered on the cross, or the bitter cup he drank in taking upon himself the sins of the world. The tune on which this arrangement is based was collected and published by the English musicologist Cecil J. Sharp in English Folk-Carols (1911). �Copyright2013 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

?The holly and the ivy/When they are both full grown/Of all the trees that are in the wood/The holly bears the crown.? So go the opening words to this cheerful, upbeat Christmas song. The lyrics appeared as broadsides in early nineteenth century Birmingham, England. The melody was first published in Cecil J. Sharp?s 1911 English Folk-Carols; on page 63 of the collection?s ?Notes on the Carols? section, Sharp wrote that he heard the tune sung by "Mrs. Mary Clayton, at Chipping Camden." (An alternative version linked the words to a melody identified as "old French carol.") This version is a fast-moving and fun treatment of the Sharp/Clayton melody. It includes, among other things, a call-and-response variation, a running tuba solo, an alternative ?verse? tune and a countermelody section featuring ?Deck the Halls.? There are two key changes, trumpets play a couple of B-above-the-staff notes, and the time signature changes from � to 4/4 near the end. Completed in 2016, this arrangement runs about 3 minutes, 20 seconds. Contact the arranger, Les Smith, at lessmith@ufl.edu. If you like this one, don?t miss Les? arrangements of ?Silver Bells,? ?Jingle Bells,? ?Jolly Old St. Nicholas,? ?Up On The Housetop,? ?Deck the Halls? and many other Christmas songs and carols. Enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.

Edward Elgar wrote his Variations on an Original Theme in 1899; each variation was meant toportray one of Elgar's close friends. The ninth movement, ?Nimrod? is about and conversation thatthe composer had with music editor, Augustus J. Jaeger. They discussed the beauty of Beethoven?sslow movements and this can be heard in ?Nimrod.? This brass quintet arrangement recreates thisBeethovenian beauty with warm voicing. It is important for players to listen to one or severalrecordings of this movement in order to get a feel for the style and changes in tempo. The printedtempi are approximate and may be deviated from. Duration?3:30