A beautiful new arrangement for orchestra including many familiar Christmas carols; suitable to open a concert or church service. Dynamic prelude that begins and ends in a reflective mood, but conveys excitement and majesty in the middle.
Orchestra | Grade 4 | 6:30
Performance materials available through:
For the 2021 Community Choir and Orchestra Christmas Cantata
NDSCS Cultural Center, Bremer Bank Theater, Wahpeton, ND
Kent Loken and Jana Berndt, Co-directors
About the piece
Christmas Prelude weaves together a number of beloved Christmas classics, including: “O Come O Come Emmanuel”, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus”, “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, “Angels From the Realms of Glory”, and “Go Tell It on the Mountain”. The piece was written as an engaging concert opener that would include many classic carols in a short amount of time. The first three carols have the word “come” in their titles, and the final carol has the word “go”. This was inspired by the intent of the cantata as a whole: COME hear music celebrating the joy of Christmas, then GO share it with others.
The world premiere of Christmas Prelude was on December 11th, 2021. The performance also included Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Look to Christ, O Come, All Ye Faithful, and O Holy Night, in addition to others.
Paul Cravens 