SKU: BR.EB-6705

ISBN 9790004169063. 9 x 12 inches. German.

Though a piano can always be included, it is not an essential requirement for the performance of these settings: in some of the carols, two violins or two flutes are quite sufficient, especially if voices are used as well. The following combinations are particularly suitable for domestic music-making, whether or not voices are included as well:one violin and piano,two violins and piano,two or three violins,violins and recorders,two concert (C) flutes (and an alto flute) and - as the ideal combination for shepherds' songs - flutes, violins, cello and piano.Performing groups and music schools have the advantage of a wider choice of forces and the possibility of varying the instrumentation within the individual carols and verses. Thus large and small combinations can alternate, strings and flutes can play in turn, and finally the piano can be used by itself or to reinforce other instrumental combinations, in which case the cello can be added, too.The pieces are graded in increasing order of difficulty; the first carols are chosen so that they can be mastered by violinists after as little as 4 to 6 months of learning their instrument. The choise and sequence of the carols in this book, and also their keys, were determined, amongst other factors, by their suitability for the start of violin tuition, both in first and in third position, so that these carols make an especially good supplement of Christmas music to the violin method of Fritz and Gottfried Scharlach (with its principle of starting with the third position). The progressively increasing difficulty of the carols has resulted, for example, in the three Advent carols (nos. 23-25) being placed later in the collection.The editor hopes that these carols will be much played and sung, and thus help to fill the Christmas season with joy and splendour.Fritz Scharlach, Salzburg, December 1972

Our beautiful Christmas carols, old and new, are presented here in settings, ranging from the easy to the more difficult, for various combinations of voices and instruments that may be available in domestic music-making or for a Christmas concert.