Holiday/Winter/Christmas Music

Note:  I started this blog in the summer and almost had it done, but decided to wait to post until closer to Christmas.  Then I got busy.  It's a little late for finding things for students this year, but not too late for some Holiday celebrations of your own.  

In real life, the Christmas season begins the day after Thanksgiving.  I don't play Christmas recordings before then.  I don't want to see Christmas stuff in stores before then.  But, if young students want to polish a piece for a Holiday studio class or recital, we can't wait until the end of November to start finding songs.  My official start date for holiday music is the beginning of 2nd quarter which is in early November, but sometimes I even start kids in late October.

Holiday music is one opportunity for my students to sing whatever they want.  I do reserve the right to veto if they are not vocally ready for the song or if we can't find it in a key that works for them, but other than that, I'm pretty open to whatever style or song they want.  They just have to purchase the music and bring it to their lessons.

I never require students to do Holiday music, they can always choose to do something else.  I would estimate that probably 90% of my students do end up choosing a Holiday song.  Those that don't sing holiday songs have a variety of reasons:  they need to work on classical rep for an upcoming audition, they're doing so much in their choirs at church and school that they just want something different, they prefer not to because of their religion. (Although I must say, I've had several Jewish kids ask to sing "Silent Night" or "O Holy Night" just because they are beautiful songs.)

Speaking of "O Holy Night"...this is one of the things I veto a lot.  I do let advanced students sing it, and sometimes in other keys or arrangements, but I insist that they use good classical production.  This is one of those times when my music snob shows.  I won't work with students on singing this song in any popular style.

With the exception of the songs from Ready to Sing...Christmas, I do not copy songs for students.  This is the information that I give them regarding Holiday Music.

♦ The 14 “legal to copy” songs that I have are:
Jingle Bells; Away in a Manger; The First Noel; Over the River and Through the Woods; Silent Night; Ding, Dong! Merrily on High; Deck the Hall; Fum, Fum, Fum; Still, Still, Still; Joy to the World; A-Rockin’ All Night; Go Tell it on the Mountain; Frozen December; and Good King Wenceslaus.

♦ If you want to purchase just one song, I suggest trying out one of these web sites, where you can find the song, put it in the key that is best for you, and print it on your printer at home. Most songs are $4-$5.
Sheetmusicdirect.com or jwpepper.com musicnotes.com or sheetmusicplus.com or musicnotes.com

♦ If you love holiday songs, you may want to invest in a book that you can use for many years to come. I have the following books at school that you can look at to decide which book you want to buy. (I then give them pretty close to the same book list you see below.)

In the first section of this blog, I will do short reviews of several books of Christmas song arrangements.  The second section will cover mostly bigger Christmas collections that include carols and popular style songs.

Part I

15 Easy Christmas Carol Arrangements
Edited by Richard Walters. Great for Beginners. Available in High and Low keys.
The arrangements of familiar carols in this book are fairly simply and in most of the songs, the piano part doubles the melody.  My favorites in this book are the arrangements of "Silent Night" and "Away in a Manger," both by Christopher Ruck.

Christmas for Two
Alfred.
Several of the songs in this book are actually partner songs, using the melodies from two different songs and then intertwining them.  My favorite song here is "Joyful, Joyful to the World" which combines "Joy to the World" and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee".

Carols for Two 
Alfred.  Christmas duets.

Ready to Sing...Christmas
Compiled and edited by Jay Althouse.
I use these simple arrangements a lot in my studio, partly because I can legally copy them, and partly just because they are good.  This book includes my favorite arrangement of "The First Noel".

The Mark Hayes Vocal Solo Collection:  10 Christmas Songs for Solo Voice
Arranged by Mark Hayes. Available in Medium High and Medium Low keys. Vocal difficulty varies, but piano accompaniments tend to be more difficult, so if you plan to sing for church, check it out with whoever will be playing for you.  I love these arrangements.   In "Away in a Manger" Hayes uses 3 different melodies, including "Normandy Carol" for the "Be near me, Lord Jesus" verse.  This verse in minor creates a beautiful bridge between the two more well know melodies.  My other favorite is "The Coventry Carol".  I've always loved this tune, but I love it even more here where he uses a minor key version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" as the basic accompaniment pattern.

Favorite Christmas Classics for Solo Singers
Compiled and edited by Patrick M. Liebergen. Available in medium high and medium low keys.  This book contains my favorite holiday song ever, a haunting setting of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" by Patrick M. Liebergen.  I also use "In the Bleak Midwinter" and "The Virgin's Slumber Song" frequently.  

The Christmas Soloist
Compiled and Edited by Jay Althouse. Available in medium high and medium low keys.
If I remember correctly, this book was actually my introduction to the music of Jay Althouse and the publications of Alfred Publishing.  This book also contains the Christmas carol and song arrangements that I most like to perform.    Favorites in this collection include "God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen", "Once in Royal David's City" (with trumpet!), and "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow!"

Christmas for Solo Singers
Compiled and Edited by Jay Althouse. Medium high and medium low keys. Contains beautiful arrangements of Christmas favorites that are very singable for high school students.  The poem "In the Bleak Midwinter" shows up in this book too, this time as "Winter Carol" with a new melody by Sherri Porterfied.  A simple, yet beautiful arrangement of "Silent Night" is a favorite with my students.   "Jingle Bells" is another student favorite.

Christmas Solos for All Ages
Compiled by Joan Frey Boytim. High, Medium, and Low keys. Includes songs that range from easy to moderately difficult.  Arrangements of lesser known carols (no "Silent Night" or "Away in a Manger"), Art Songs/Traditional songs, and 3 popular songs ("The Christmas Song", "Do You Hear What I Hear", "White Christmas").

Part II

The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas

The Ultimate Series:  Christmas:100 Seasonal Favorites
Hal Leonard. Many standard carols and popular style holiday songs.

Seasons Greetings.
Hal Leonard. Many standard carols and popular style holiday songs.

Once Upon a December and 50 Christmas Favorites
Warner Bros. Publications. Many standard carols and popular style holiday songs.

The Christmas Collection--53 Songs for the Classical Singer
Hal Leonard. Art Songs and Arrangements of popular songs and carols. Moderately difficult to advanced. Low and High keys available.

Home for Christmas—Amy Grant
Hal Leonard. Arrangements from her CD.

Mary, Did You Know? Plus 24 New Inspirational Christmas Favorites
Word Music.  Contemporary Christian.  I'm not a huge fan of contemporary christian music, but there are some songs in here that I really like.  "Breath of Heaven", "Christmas Lullaby (I Will Lead You Home)", "Not that Far From Bethlehem," and "Welcome to Our World" are my favorites.

30 Christmas Favorites Then and Now. Cherry Lane Music Company. Contemporary songs and arrangements from popular artists.  This book may be out of print now, but you can occasionally still find used copies.  This book includes two songs recorded by Linda Eder that I haven't found in other books.  "The Gift" is my favorite.

Big Book of Christmas Songs.  Hal Leonard.

The World's Most Beloved Christmas Songs.  Alfred.