ISBN 9781491157299. 6.875 x 10.5 inches. Key: F major, g major, ab major. English. Phillips Brooks. Philips Brooks.
Using the Forest Green hymn tune adapted by Ralph Vaughn Williams, Russell Robinson captures the "flavor" of the British version of this beloved carol with simplicity and beauty. A cappella and accessible, this work is sure to be a holiday favorite in any setting.
My wife, Brenda, and I were on the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic crossing from Southampton, England to New York City in December of 2017. As it was the holidays, the festivities included a carol sing with the crew and passengers, 90% of whom were British. All of the people sang carols from song sheets, including Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, etc. However, when they started singing O Little Town of Bethlehem, it was not the tune we had grown up singing in America. It was the British version, known from memory by all of the Brits on board. I loved the tune. Upon our return home, I began researching this beautiful melody in order to arrange it for SATB voices, a cappella. The lyrics, which are the same for both versions, were written as a poem in 1868 by Phillip Brooks, an Episcopal priest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The original tune (known in America) was written by his church organist, Lewis Redner. However, English composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, adapted a famous British hymn tune melody, Forest Green, to Brooks poem, which was then published in the English Hymnal in 1906. Since that time, the Forest Green hymn tune melody is the standard version in Britain, known by all when singing O Little Town of Bethlehem. I have tried to capture the flavor of the rousing, British version, that our friends over the pond love to sing with gusto in this arrangement which allows for unison and part singing that highlight sections of the choir as well. The third verse (How silently . . . ), is a bit more intimate, with the addition of a Soprano solo or small group ostinato, that appears again with more singers in the fourth verse and the ending. Sing with tall, vertical vowels and crisp diction paying close attention to the dynamic markings. Keep a constant tempo until the final five measures (molto allargando) which should dramatically slow down. For those of you that have never heard this tune for O Little Town of Bethlehem, and for those of you who have, I hope you enjoy singing this arrangement. Should you ever travel abroad, youll feel right at home when singing this carol in England! Russell Robinson, Arranger.
