Gustav Holst - Folksongs of Hampshire England . In the early 1900's there was great interest in collecting and preserving the folk songs of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Equipped with their newly invented recording devices, people such as Cecil Sharp, Charles Stanford, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Gustav Holst would travel into the country-side to record, or notate songs being sung. They would frequently use these songs in their own compositions. Holst's music in particular is filled with those songs and his two suites for band are especially valued by wind bands around the world. This group of four songs was arranged for voice and piano by Holst and set for flute choir by John Gibson. The songs are 1. Young Edwin in the Lowlands Low 2. Bedlam City 3. The Irish Girl 4. Young Reilly. The instrumentation is: Piccolo, Flute 1-3, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, and Contra Bass Flute.

This is a fairly simple version of a classic Christmas song. For younger flautists, this arrangement would be a good tool for learning dissonance, as the parts have been arranged to mimic the sound of actual jingle bells. Part 5 could also be played by a bass flute for a different sound. Eleven pages (score and parts included), approximately two and a half minutes performance time.

Don't have five flutes? Want this arrangement for a different selection of instruments? Drop me an email at bekmars10@gmail.com and I'll see about getting a custom arrangement published for you!