Piano Quartet,String Ensemble Cello,Piano,Viola,Violin - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.612672 Composed by Traditional French Carol. Arranged by John A. Dempsey. Christian,Christmas,Holiday,Sacred,Traditional. Score and parts. 22 pages. John A. Dempsey #221864. Published by John A. Dempsey (A0.612672). Arranged as a lively piano quartet for violin, viola, cello and piano, this exultant arrangement of a traditional French Christmas carol contains variation in all parts as well as dynamic shading, embellishments and incidental music by Grieg, all adding to the joyful atmosphere of praise and thanksgiving.  Gloria in excelsis Deo is Latin for Glory to God in the Highest.  Recommended for Christmas plays, pageants and programs, holiday recitals and Christmas concerts as well as traditional Christmas church services and other seasonal worship events.  Suggested worship uses: prelude, postlude, offertory, interlude, Christmas play overture and special music.  Key: C major.  18 pages of music (that includes the score and separate two-page parts for violin, viola and cello).

Piano Quartet - Level 1 - Digital Download SKU: A0.548646 Composed by Wade. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Christmas. 8 pages. Jmsgu3 #3407471. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.548646). O Come, All Ye Faithful The traditional Adeste Fideles was arranged for a piano quartet ( piano, violin, viola & cello) featuring a thought-provoking re-harmonized final verse. O Come, All Ye Faithful is an English translation of the Latin Christmas carol Adeste Fideles. No one knows exactly who wrote it. One theory holds that King John IV of Portugal (1604–1656) wrote it. Another view says John F. Wade or John Reading wrote it. Nowadays, we usually attribute it to John Wade. It seems like Stonyhurst College in Lancashire owns the oldest manuscript. It is from the year 1751. Nevertheless, the O Come All Ye Faithful: Piano Quartet version has a re-harmonized final verse for more energy and drive. Lyrics Frederick Oakeley, a Catholic priest in 1841, wrote the English translation. This translation is probably the most common in English-speaking states. To begin with, the hymn had only four verses. Later, the verses grew to eight. Music directors often cut various verses because otherwise, the song goes too long. Some believe that St. Bonaventure wrote the first Latin lyrics. Others hold that King John IV of Portugal is responsible. Yet even others think the Cistercian monks wrote them. King John IV His subjects called King John IV of Portugal The Musician King. He became king in 1640. In addition to performing the duties of a king, he composed and wrote as a music journalist. King John built an extensive music library. Unfortunately, the massive earthquake in Lisbon ruined the library in 1755. In addition to making his library, the king started a Music School that produced many accomplished musicians. The king also worked diligently to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in his churches. Aside from his authorship of Adeste Fideles, he is famous for another popular choral setting of the Crux Fidelis, a prevalent Lenten hymn. Performance in Context Verses are sometimes left out because all eight verses would take too long to perform. More to the point, though, some of the poems may be unsuitable for whatever church calendar they are intended. The eighth verse deals with the Epiphany, so it makes sense to sing this on Epiphany Sunday but not on other Sundays. Similarly, poems are used for whether the event is Midnight Mass or regular daytime Mass.  

Piano Quartet - Level 3 - Digital Download SKU: A0.548651 Composed by James Pierpont. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Christmas. 17 pages. Jmsgu3 #3408091. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.548651). A unique arrangement of Jingle Bells arranged for a piano quartet (piano, violin, viola, cello, and optional sleigh bells). The first verses are based on the traditional version. After an abrupt modulation, the third verse explores an augmentation canon, while the viola pursues a wild sleigh ride passage. Meanwhile, the tune is fragmented and sequenced in the piano. It gets wild but straightens out for the final refrain. Score: 7 pg, 68 ms. String parts: 2 pg. Sleighbell part: 1 pg. Piano part: 3 pg. Jingle Bells is perhaps the most famous song in American music history. James L. Pierpont published the song One Horse Open Sleigh in the late 1850s. Since its introduction, people began to insist that Pierpont wrote it for a Sunday school choir. However, it seems unlikely that such a secular song would be considered appropriate during that historical period for Sunday school. Christmas Repertoire Pierpont wrote the song for the Thanksgiving holidays, but over time people began to think of it more as a Christmas song. Some choirs adopted it as part of their Christmas repertoire in the 1860s and 1870s. Jingle Bells was first recorded in 1889 on a wax cylinder. Origins No one knows where Pierpont composed the song. One theory suggests he wrote it in Medford Massachusetts in 1850. Sleigh races were certainly popular in 19th-century Massachusetts. To this day, a commemorative placard appears in Medford Square claiming that it is the birthplace of Jingle Bells. Others suggest that he wrote it in Savannah, Georgia where he was an organist and music director at the Unitarian Church. This theory gained support from the copyright date of 1857. We know he was living in Savannah by then. Traffic Signals Horse-drawn sleighs are relatively quiet in the snow. Consequently, horses were usually equipped with bell-laden straps so as to avoid accidents at blind intersections. Sleigh drivers in 19th Century New England were constantly vigilant, listening for the sounds of approaching horse-drawn sleighs. The tune imitates the rhythm that the trotting horse bells produce. Social Context Jingle Bells was sung as a drinking song at local revelries: during the song, folks would rhythmically jingle the ice in their glasses. A sleigh ride allowed couples to be alone together. The term Jingle bells is a poetic descriptive adjective referring specifically to the more accurate term sleigh bells. In many arrangements, sleigh bells accentuate the rhythm during the song's chorus.   

Piano Quartet,String Ensemble - Level 5 - Digital Download SKU: A0.987845 Composed by Robert M. Greenberg. 20th Century,Contemporary. Score and parts. 105 pages. Robert M. Greenberg #90267. Published by Robert M. Greenberg (A0.987845). Preferred Contact Information: RMonteverdi@comcast.net Performing Rights Organization: BMI Website: robertgreenbergmusic.com Facebook Band Page: facebook.com/RobertGreenbergMusic Video: movement 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abie7jcHVA0 movement 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b__yWnl7LcU movement 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8V3g4AC0eM Duration: ca. 17 minutes Year of composition: 2001 Program Note: I. Knock Yourself Out II. Flutterby III. Morph (with apologies to J. B.) Funny Like a Monkey is one of the many phrases coined by my then 16 year-old daughter in order to address the actions and well-intended attempts at humor by both her younger brother and her hopelessly antiquated father. What I love about these phrases – of which Funny Like a Monkey is but one of many – is their use of nonsequitur elevated to high verbal art. They are at once biting and humorous, and are filled with the sort of over-the-top verbal bravado that only a teenager, as the self-acknowledged epitome of hip, can get away with. Though Funny Like a Monkey is scored as a traditional piano quartet, it is in reality composed for string trio PLUS piano. Along with being part of the larger ensemble, the piano has a featured role in the piece: it is narrator, commentator, curmudgeon, critic, and emcee, as it introduces and comments upon the relative merits of the musical materials that comprise the work. The first movement is entitled Knock Yourself Out. The movement’s energy and exuberance, as well as its mercurial-shift-on-a-dime nature is a rather personal reference to the dedicatee. The second movement is entitled Flutterby. A spoonerism created (or at least favored) by my daughter, the reference is to a sort of macro- butterfly, a mega-mariposa, if you will, one of extraordinary beauty and delicacy that floats and drifts and shimmers in some imagined place. The third movement, Morph, With Apologies to J.B. refers to the rather obvious fact that the music keeps morphing in and out of the finale of Johannes Brahms’ (J.B.’s) Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25. I’m crazy about Brahms’ piano quartets, and I have surrendered to the urge to mess with his pitch collections and thematic motives. The movement, with its musical puns, metamorphoses, and attempts at humor, is a perfect example of what might be referred to as funny like a monkey. Funny . . . is dedicated, with love, to Rachel Amy Greenberg on the occasion of her 16th birthday.

Instrumental Duet,Piano Cello,Instrumental Duet,Piano,Violin - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.816362 Composed by Julia Samarska. Arranged by Maksym Kravchenko. Holiday,Standards,World. Score and parts. 22 pages. Julia Samarska #5718267. Published by Julia Samarska (A0.816362). Medley on popular traditional Irish themes for piano quartet - violin 1, violin 2, cello and piano.

Piano Quartet - Level 1 - Digital Download SKU: A0.548639 Composed by Traditional. Arranged by James M. Guthrie. Christmas. 10 pages. Jmsgu3 #3406037. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.548639). The First Nowell arranged for Piano Quartet featuring a thought-provoking re-harmonization of the final verse.OriginsThe First Noel is an English Christmas carol. Even more, it was probably written in the late Cornish Renaissance period. While other versions spell the title as Nowell, this is an everyday variation. Furthermore, Noel is an older word meaning “Christmas.� Therefore, “the First Noel� translates as “the First Christmas.� First of all, Gilbert and Sandy published the earliest version. As a result, this version appears in the “Carols Ancient and Modern� songbook of 1823. William Sandy edited and arranged the book. Similarly, his partner Davies Gilbert revised and added the familiar extra verses. The First Noel: Piano Quartet Version brings new harmony in the final verse for more energy and drive.StainerOrganist and composer Sir John Stainer published the most noteworthy customary arrangement in the 1870s. Stainer is, above all, famous for his songbook entitled Christmas Carols New and Old (1871). This volume served as an essential catalyst for reviving the English Christmas carol. Other favorite Stainer arrangements from this book include What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, and I Saw Three Ships.Diatonic FunctionThe melodic structure in the First Noel is uncommon among English folk tunes. It simply repeats one phrase twice and then follows a variation refrain. All three words of the song end on the mediant scale degree. This is unusual because the diatonic function of the mediant is non-final compared to the more usual tonic or even dominant degrees. Consequently, this gives the song an open-ended feeling – like maybe it never ends.Political ContextThe Catholic clergy sang carols outside of the church in Latin. After the Protestant Reformation, the reformers thought it would be better for everyone to sing carols. They decided to bring music back to the common folk. So, they translated the lyrics from Latin into a common language. Moreover, the Protestants wanted more control over the music in the church than what the Vatican allowed. Protestant composers such as William Byrd composed complex polyphonic Christmas music that they called carols. Nonetheless, some famous folk melodies were composed in this era. Eminent composers in the nineteenth century began to revise and adapt them. Consequently, they revived the English carol.

Piano Quartet - Level 2 - Digital Download SKU: A0.549902 Composed by Traditional. Arranged by James M. Guthrie, ASCAP. Christmas,Standards. 6 pages. Jmsgu3 #3685135. Published by jmsgu3 (A0.549902). Score: 3 pages, String parts 1 page each. The First Noel arranged for Alto Sax & Piano with new harmony for the final verse.Origins The First Noel is an English Christmas carol. Even more, it was probably written in the late Cornish Renaissance period. While other versions spell the title as Nowell, this is just a colloquial variation. Furthermore, Noel is an older word meaning Christmas. Therefore the First Noel translates as the First Christmas. First of all, Gilbert and Sandy published the earliest version. As a result, this version appears in the Carols Ancient and Modern songbook of 1823. William Sandy edited and arranged the book. Similarly, his partner Davies Gilbert edited and added the familiar extra verses. The First Noel: Piano Quartet Version comes with new harmony in final verse for more energy and drive. Stainer Organist and composer Sir John Stainer published the most noteworthy customary arrangement in the 1870’s.  Stainer is above all famous for his songbook entitled: Christmas Carols New and Old (1871). This volume served as an important catalyst for reviving the English Christmas carol.  Other famous Stainer arrangements from this book are such titles as What Child Is This, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, and I Saw Three Ships. Diatonic Function The melodic structure in the First Noel is uncommon among English folk tunes. It simply repeats one phrase twice then follows a variation refrain. All three phrases of the song end on the mediant scale degree. This is unusual because the diatonic function of the mediant is non-final compared to the more usual tonic or even dominant degrees. Consequently, this gives the song as kind of open-ended feeling – like maybe it never really ends. Political Context The Catholic clergy sang carols outside of the church in Latin. After the Protestant Reformation, the reformers thought it would be better for everyone to sing carols. They decided to bring music back to the common folk. So, they translated the lyrics from Latin into common language. Moreover, the Protestants wanted more control over the music in church than what the Vatican allowed. Protestant composers such as William Byrd composed complex polyphonic Christmas music that they called carols. Nonetheless, some famous folk carols were composed in this era. Eminent composers in the nineteenth century began to revise and adapt them. Consequently, they revived the English carol.  Register for free lifetime updates and revisions at www.jamesguthrie.com