Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

Song List: A Christmas Package A Mighty Fortress Adoramus Te An American's Pride Come, Thou Almighty King Holy, Holy, Holy I Sing the Mighty Power of God Ivory Palaces March Pontifical Music for Easter Now Thank We All Our God O God, Our Help In Ages Past O Mighty God Onward, Christian Soldiers Praise Ye The Lord, The Almighty Prayer Thanksgiving The Heavens Are Telling Three Spirituals Trumpet Tune Trumpet Voluntary Under His Wings When Morning Gilds the Skies

This is a book of 13 beautiful, playable Christmas arrangements for two recorders. It is suitable for soprano, alto, tenor, in any combination.

The songs are: Angels from the Realms of Glory, Away In a Manger, Carol of the Bells, Deck the Halls, Ding Dong! Merrily On High, God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, In the Bleak Midwinter, Jesu, Joy of Man?s Desiring, O Holy Night, Sussex Carol, The First Noel and We Three Kings.

Please check out the music samples for play-ability for your ensemble. The samples don't always look normal. The music looks perfect in your pdf.

The audio sample is from Carol of the Bells. It sounds more like alto recorder, it is to give you an idea of what the arrangement is like.

My website: www.blevinsmusic.com

Score: 3 pages, String parts 1 page each. The First Noel arranged for Alto Sax & Piano with new harmony for the final verse.

Origins
The First Noel is an English Christmas carol. Even more, it was probably written in the late Cornish Renaissance period. While other versions spell the title as Nowell, this is just a colloquial variation. Furthermore, Noel is an older word meaning ?Christmas.? Therefore ?the First Noel? translates as ?the First Christmas.? First of all, Gilbert and Sandy published the earliest version. As a result, this version appears in the ?Carols Ancient and Modern? songbook of 1823. William Sandy edited and arranged the book. Similarly, his partner Davies Gilbert edited and added the familiar extra verses. The First Noel: String Quartet Version comes with new harmony in final verse for more energy and drive.

Stainer
Organist and composer Sir John Stainer published the most noteworthy customary arrangement in the 1870?s. Stainer is above all famous for his songbook entitled: Christmas Carols New and Old (1871). This volume served as an important catalyst for reviving the English Christmas carol. Other famous Stainer arrangements from this book are such titles as What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, and I Saw Three Ships.

Diatonic Function
The melodic structure in the First Noel is uncommon among English folk tunes. It simply repeats one phrase twice then follows a variation refrain. All three phrases of the song end on the mediant scale degree. This is unusual because the diatonic function of the mediant is non-final compared to the more usual tonic or even dominant degrees. Consequently, this gives the song as kind of open-ended feeling ? like maybe it never really ends.

Political Context
The Catholic clergy sang carols outside of the church in Latin. After the Protestant Reformation, the reformers thought it would be better for everyone to sing carols. They decided to bring music back to the common folk. So, they translated the lyrics from Latin into common language. Moreover, the Protestants wanted more control over the music in church than what the Vatican allowed. Protestant composers such as William Byrd composed complex polyphonic Christmas music that they called carols. Nonetheless, some famous folk carols were composed in this era. Eminent composers in the nineteenth century began to revise and adapt them. Consequently, they revived the English carol.