Doesn’t it always seem like you’ve barely gotten done with back to school season and Halloween events when suddenly you’ve got to pick out pieces for your Winter holiday concert? Don’t worry because we here at SmartMusic have got your back. We’re always on the lookout for new arrangements of classic holiday tunes as well as brand new Winter-themed pieces, and on the blog this week we’re featuring some of our new holiday releases for 2014.
As always, we keep our Holiday list well-stocked. To search for holiday pieces in your SmartMusic browser, just go to Find Music, click on Advanced Search Options, and select “Holiday and Patriotic” from the Genre menu.
Dream of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night), from Alfred Publishing Co.
“For the night is God’s cathedral” and the stars visit in “dreams of fireflies.” Look to the fabulous Trans-Siberian Orchestra show to add a bit of spice to your holiday concert. This piece will be greatly enhanced by adding a rhythm section and electric instruments, but sounds just as good with strings and percussion alone.
Audio provided by Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc
Pachelbel’s Christmas from Hal Leonard Corp.
Pachelbel’s Christmas offers an unexpected twist on a well known piece, “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel. The canon progresses normally until the flutes and oboes enter with “Jolly Old St. Nicholas.” This is the first of eight Christmas carols that are heard throughout the arrangement. Pachelbel’s Christmas offers a chance for the players to develop their sense of dynamic balance as everyone will get at least one opportunity to play the melody for one of the carols. Feel free to make adjustments to the dynamic markings as needed so that the carol melodies are heard clearly above the canon.
Audio provided by Hal Leonard Corporation.
Got an idea for a blog post? Contact us!
If you are an educator, musician, composer or student with a suggestion for a “piece of the week” blog post, you can email your suggestion to Griffin at gwoodworth@makemusic.com. Please let me know the name of the piece, composer, publisher, and why this piece is special to you.