Christmas Pieces - Oliver Barton

This page lists original Christmas pieces by Oliver Barton. There are other Christmas pieces on the page of Tim Porter's choral pieces.

Bring Me Joy!

words & music: Oliver Barton

Bring Me Joy is a Christmas piece that is a bit of a cross between a spiritual and Malcolm Sargent’s arrangement of the Cowboy Carol, though it doesn’t have any glissandi! Some people have been a bit taken aback by the words:
The angels cried aloud “It’s a boy!”
but after all, it was.

Forces:	Unaccompanied SATB, but there are a couple of moments when the Sopranos and Altos split.
Duration:	about 3'40"
Length:	8 pages

Free download of the entire piece: PDF, Finale, MIDI

Carol of the Wandering Boy

words: Cath Carmichael

music: Oliver Barton

This is an attempt to write something reminiscent of the meditative works of Pärt and John Tavener, but it doesn’t sound anything like them. It was originally intended to be unaccompanied, but it proved quite taxing for the singers, who need to maintain long legato lines without remission, building to a climax and reducing down to very little while maintaining complete control. So I added an independent organ part that provides support at crucial moments but also wanders off on its own way at times, giving the choir a rest. It can be performed with or without the organ part.

Forces:	Unaccompanied SATB or SATB plus organ. There a certain amount of splitting, but not in the Tenor line.
Duration:	about 3'20" unaccompanied, 4'0" with organ
Length:	Chorus part: 4 pages, Organ score: 8 pages

Download a sample: MIDI Free download of the entire piece: PDF, Finale

Four AM

words & music: Oliver Barton

A companion piece to Maud’s Dream. This is set at 4:00 am on Christmas morning, at which time the twins discover the stockings full of presents at the foot of their beds, and what ensues, ending with a Moral for all parents. Pretty anarchic at times.

Forces:	Unaccompanied SATB—a bit of easy splitting for S and A
Duration:	about 3'35"
Length:	8 pages

Free download of the entire piece: PDF, Finale

Maud’s Dream

words & music: Oliver Barton

Auntie Maud comes to stay at Christmas to the dismay of the family. This piece tells us of her dream when she was a little girl. The grown-ups all laughed at her and that is why she is the curmudgeonly bitter woman she is today.

Forces:	SATB, piano
Duration:	4'30"
Length:	Chorus part: 11 pages, Piano score: 12 pages

Download a sample: MIDI Free download of the entire piece: PDF (chorus only), PDF (full), Finale

A New Christmas Alphabet

words & music: Oliver Barton

You know The Christmas Alphabet (‘“C” is for the candy trimmed around the Christmas tree’, etc.), full of cloying sentiment. This version tells it as it is, featuring Auntie Maud (see Maud’s Dream above), the cat, overindulgence and so on, and finishing: ‘“S” is feeling sick from eating on and on and on— And sick at heart as well because the Christmas meaning’s gone.’ But the tune, which is newly composed even if it has similarities, is jolly.

Forces:	SATB, piano
Duration:	2'20"
Length:	5 pages

Free download of the entire piece: PDF (full score), PDF (chorus only), Finale, MIDI

Open the door to Christmas

words & music: Cath & Oliver Barton

Repetitive and frantic build-ups flank a reflective section with a mezzo or baritone solo. The general sentiment is "open the door to your brother/sister outside, alone in the cold - how can you be warm with family and friends while he or she's lonely, cold and starving?" The solo is the thoughts of the visitor coming through the open door and experiencing the warmth of the family.

Forces:	Unaccompanied SATB divisi, mezzo or baritone solo
Duration:	about 4'
Length:	12 pages

Free download of the entire piece: PDF, Finale, MIDI

A Wassail To Keep Out the Cold

words: Trad

music: Trad. & Oliver Barton

Forces:	SATB, piano or ensemble
Duration:	about 12'30"
Length:	Score: 30 pages

Free download of the entire piece: PDF, Finale, MIDI
If you would like a chorus part and parts for the instruments, please ask me.

A continuous medley of traditional English and Irish tunes and words that concentrates on eating and drinking, such prominent activities at Christmas!
1	All hayle to the dayes ‘A pleasant Countrey new Ditty: Merrily shewing how To drive the cold Winter away’ from a broadside in the Pepysian collection, early 17th century, to the tune of “When Phoebus did rest,”. first published in The Dancing Master, 1650.
2	The Glory of the West A country dance first published in The Dancing Master in 1650, with the words “Shall I, mother, shall I?” written under it. Whether he or she did, we’ll never know.
3	King Herod and the Cock The words were collected by Cecil Sharp from Mrs. Plumb of Armscote, Worcestershire. The melody is “The Star of County Down.” The story can be traced back to 1200.
4	The Old Gray Cat A good old English reel.
5	Bring us in good ale/The Salutation Carol Copied down in the commonplace book of William Hill (grocer and Mayor of London) in 1504. “Bring us in good ale” is a boozy parody of the Salutation (or Annunciation) carol. Such parodies were common; church and tavern often shared tunes. Hill’s book is an amazing collection of items, from ‘a good medycyne for a cutt,’ which begins ‘Take a pynte of good ale,’ to notes on the breaking in of horses.
6	The first nowell (for the audience to join in!) Tune and words from William Sandys’ West Country collection “Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern,” 1833. Harmonization of verses 2 and 3 is by Sir John Stainer (1871).

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