And time constraints have made this the second and last XAR for this year, so I chose my favorite instrumentation to write for: Mallet Choir. The song is The Holly and the Ivy, another traditional English carol. From England. The piece builds to a fast, light, happy rendition that follows the original arrangement pretty closely, with rhythmic support under the melody. The B section switches to a minor key and ups the rhythmic support, and comes back around to the A section again, switching back to major and coming to and end with a call and response theme between each instrument. For you - now - here is: The Holly and the Ivy!

The Holly and the Ivy (mallet choir)

Ho ho ho - here is the latest addition to the Xmas Arrangement Request family! The first song arranged this year is I Saw Three Ships, the traditional English Christmas carol from 17th century England. This one felt like it needed a full orchestra, so I wrote it for solo trumpet. I’m kidding, it’s for full orchestra. I started it with a very piratey, sea-faring feel and in a minor key. The melody is in the horns with the rest of the brass providing the support and punctuations. After a quick crashing of the waves, the song switches to the inside of a seaside pub, with accordian, mallet choir, and pizzicato strings adding a light, drunken feel to the piece. But soon the frivolity is over and the mistress that is the sea calls again; the ships set sail for crazy adventures once again, with a change to a major key and a faster tempo. The low brass and low strings add a steady movement as the melody returns to the high brass, this time in the trumpets. The woodwinds add to the movement with quick triplets, and the high strings give a free, open feel with high whole notes, and the piece ends with a strong flourish. The only thing about this piece right now is that the MIDI format changes the sounds of some of the instruments mid-way through (after the pub part). So the loud, obnoxious trumpet in there should actually be a loud, obnoxious chime. So here you go - yay XAR #7!

I Saw 3 Ships (full orchestra)