SKU: A0.979772

The Coventry Carol originates from a medieval mystery play entitled The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story, from the Annunciation (where the Angel Gabriel appears to Mary), to the Massacre of the Innocents (where King Herod of Judea orders the death of all male infants near Bethlehem under the age of two).

It is this tale that the Coventry Carol depicts, taking the form of a lullaby sung by the mothers of the murdered children. As is appropriate, the music is in a minor key – this arrangement uses G minor and D minor as a homage to well-known harmonisations by Thomas Sharp and Henry Walford Davies. It is unknown when the words were first set to music, but a proposed date is 1591, or earlier! Other interesting musical features include the use of a ‘Picardy third’, and ‘false relations’, contributing to the haunting quality of this enduring piece, both in the heart of the English Midlands, and further afield.

This arrangement is suitable for all orchestras of beginner-intermediate ability or higher. There is plenty of interest for both experienced players, and for newcomers. The instrumentation is designed to facilitate both a full sound, but also for flexibility, which is often desired by school, youth, and amateur orchestras.

SKU: A0.976706

The title,What Child We Sing, is a play on two traditional Christmas carols, What Child Is This and Sing We Now of Christmas, which are the basis of this new work. What Child Is This is almost always paired wth the 16th Century English tune, Greensleeves, a ballad of unrequited love. Both the text and tune of Sing We Now of Christmas come from a traditional French Christmas carol, Noel Nouvelet, believed to be even older than Greensleeves. These two traditional Christmas carols blend together in several ways so as to make the compilation into one work a natural result. Both tunes are set in a minor mode with a very similar narrow melodic range that effortlessly flow together. The question of what child lies in the manger is answered in the refrain of Sing We Now of Christmas with the proclamation, Sing We Noel, the King is born, Noel. The result turns out not to be a medley but a melding of two distincts into one union, What Child We Sing?