On Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring.
On Christmas night all Christians sing to hear the news the angels bring.
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King's birth!

This joyous Christmas song was first published by Luke Wadding, an Irish bishop, in a 17th century collection called Small Garland of Godly and Pious Songs. It became known as ?Sussex Carol? in the early 20th century upon being collected by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, who heard it being sung by a folk singer in Sussex, England. He later included it in his choral settings, Eight Traditional English Carols and Fantasia on Christmas Carols.

This lever harp arrangement is in the key of G (with a short section in D mixolydian for variety, from measures 56 to 65). There are no lever changes. It is suited for harps with at least 34 strings.

The right hand has the melody most of the time, with the left hand accompanying; but the left hand gets to take center stage from measures 33 through 47; again from measures 86 through 89; and again at the end, from measures 100 through 106.

This arrangement is great for all Christmas events, from church services to concerts to parties.
The YouTube video shows the pedal harp arrangement, which is exactly the same as the lever harp arrangement except that it is in the key of G flat instead of G; and it has ONE extra very low note at the very end.

For more harp arrangements by Stephanie Bennett, please subscribe to HarpworldMusicCo on Youtube, and visit www.harpworld.com/sheetmusic.html.
I hope you enjoy sharing this cheerful song with your listeners, during many happy holidays! - Stephanie Bennett

Your audience?s memory of this Eighties rock anthem by Journey will be playing along in their head?from the original album, a live performance, The Sopranos, Glee, karaoke, or all of the above. But they?ve never heard it before on a harp.

This arrangement makes good use of the double-strung by using both sides for repeated notes and letting the accompaniment hand overlap the melody. The result is beautiful but still ballsy.

Range and key: F major (one flat). 23x2 strings. C below middle C through D.
Lever changes: None.

Good for: Weddings, parties, performance, therapeutic settings.

Double-strung effects: The LH accompaniment frequently overlaps the RH melody range. Finger placements are suggested for playing echoed notes with alternating hands to work around or emphasize ringing strings. Since the alternate-hand echoing is not required, it?s a great piece to learn this technique on.

Characteristics: Arpeggios and a syncopated melody. The RH never places more than an octave spread; the LH places 1-9 twice. There are a few four-note chords (LH 1-3-5-8); the rest of the chords are three notes, usually not inversions. The RH has almost no chords. There are two bars of sixteenth notes that can easily be substituted for eighths. The LH has two long-run patterns (1-5-8-9-10 and 1-5-8-9) which can be played with cross-unders or a wandering thumb. The RH has only two cross-overs.

Finger placement: Finger number suggestions are provided for key phrases. Numbers above the notes are suggestions for the RH (marked with ?R? or ?R#? when they occur in the bottom staff). Numbers below the notes are suggestions for the LH (marked with ?L? or ?L#? when they occur in the top staff). To see what I mean, view the PDF of finger placement examples in ?Don?t Stop Believin?: www.EnjoyTheHarp.com/s/dont-stop-believin-notes-enjoy-the-harp.pdf

Notation: Chord symbols and lyrics are provided. Treble clef in both staves. To avoid switching between bass clef and treble in the accompaniment, 8vb lines are used for the low Cs, Ds, and Es (which means that you play an octave below what?s written). Low Fs use 8vb sometimes, so if you see a lot of low ledger lines, don?t worry: it?s that F below middle C. Instead of counting the lines, you can look at the chord symbols to confirm.

Length: 6 pages. 106 measures. 4:00?5:00 minutes, depending on tempo.

Page turns: If you are printing, double-side pages 2-3 and 4-5 to minimize page turns. Line breaks have been made with printed or single-page-tablet turns in mind; you can pick up some accompaniment notes in the RH to turn with the LH.

Analysis and performance notes at www.EnjoyTheHarp.com/dont-stop-believin