Carols for Choirs 1: Fifty Christmas Carols (Carols for Choirs) (Paperback)

~ Reginald Jacques (Author), John Rutter (Author), David Willcocks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

50 Christmas carols
The volumes of Carols for Choirs have established themselves as the quintessential carol books for carol-singers around the world. Each volume presents a wide rage of carols to suit every occasion, from well-known tunes superbly arranged to be the best original compositions. Carols for Choirs 1 includes carols for audience and congregation with varied harmonizations and festive descants, the full text of the traditional Nine Lessons printed in the appendix, and a detailed list of the carol orchestrations available on rental.
Orchestrations for several of the carols from this collection are available on sale or hire under the titles Three Carol Orchestrations and Five Christmas Carols.
Eight Carol Accompaniments for 5 and 8 part brass (to accompany carols from CfC1 and CfC2) are also on sale.

About the Author

John Rutter is an OUP composer. David Willcocks is a former Kings College Chapel Director of Music, London, and is conductor of the Bach Choir.

Product Details

• Paperback: 082 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 31, 1968)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0193532220
• ISBN-13: 978-0193532229
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,458 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid starting point for Christmas choral concert music!, December 8, 2007

By	Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Carols for Choirs 1 comprises 50 carols, mostly for mixed SATB voices, well blended from both traditional and modern sources as well as secular versus sacred. Several familiar texts such as "Away in a Manger", "Coventry Carol" and "I Saw Three Ships" appear in two different musical settings which will give choirs the ability to present a wider variety of music to informed audiences that might well be jaded with the more typical Christmas fare.

Some pieces such as Mendelssohn's "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" or "O Come All Ye Faithful" are presented with the well known upper voice descant and oft heard harmonies that are so familiar it's probable even "con belto" fortissimo audience participants might be heard singing in four parts.

In marked contrast, other pieces such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" or JS Bach's harmonization of "O Little One Sweet", while not requiring virtuosity, will require careful practice, study and complete attention to choral detail such as dynamics, endings and articulation in order to pull off a polished, crowd-pleasing a cappella performance.

Highly recommended for regular choral singers and conductors.

Paul Weiss