Woodwind Ensemble,Woodwind Quartet - Level 3 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.734336

Composed by Felix Bartholdy Mendelssohn. Arranged by Dennis Ruello. Christian,Christmas,Jazz,Sacred. 12 pages. Chicory Music #2946039. Published by Chicory Music (A0.734336).

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, having been written by Charles Wesley. Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the joyful tune expected today. Moreover, Wesley's original opening couplet is Hark! how all the welkin rings / Glory to the King of Kings.[1]

The popular version is the result of alterations by various hands, notably by Wesley's co-worker George Whitefield who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one, and by Felix Mendelssohn. In 1840, a hundred years after the publication of Hymns and Sacred Poems, Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, that propels the carol known today.

This arrangement, in the saxophone friendly key of F concert, can be preformed with or without the optional acoustic bass and drum set parts. Both performers and audience members will enjoy the modern harmonies used in this presentation. Performance time approx. 2 minutes 6 seconds