Advent/Christmas (Arrangements)

Showing 1–12 of 26 results

BEACH SPRING – strings
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[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/beach_spring-strings-demo.mp3"][/audio]
BEACH SPRING is a lovely American folk tune often paired with the text “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus.” (Also “As We Gather at Your Table,” “Wash, O God, Our Sons and Daughters,” and “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.”) This arrangement was written for use in communion, so it is divided into distinct sections that allow it to end or continue depending on how much time is needed. Of course, it would work beautifully as a prelude, etc.

Download includes score and parts for two violins, viola, cello, and bass. Purchase price allows you to print as many copies as needed for your ensemble.
Before Your Manger, Here I Stand / Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier
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https://musicblog.gregscheer.com/before_your_manger.mp3

Looking for a Christmas piece that’s a little off the beaten path? This beloved German Christmas carol has been newly translated and arranged. The choir parts are not at all difficult, and the anthem can be accompanied by piano alone. However, if you do have flute, recorder, guitar, or strings available, the music becomes absolutely exquisite.

Anthem for SATB choir, flute, recorder, classical guitar, and strings. Download includes score and parts; purchase price allows you to print as many copies as you need for your ensemble.
Born to Die, Born to Rise
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http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/born_to_die_born_to_rise.mp3

Christmas can become saccharine when it’s populated only with sweet baby Jesuses, choruses of angels, and mild Marys. Just as the Magis’ myrrh foreshadowed Jesus’ burial, “Ah, Holy Jesus” reminds us of the full meaning of the incarnation. This piece weaves “Lo, How a Rose” and “Ah, Holy Jesus” together in musical counterpoint that thickens both their differences and underlying unity. After focusing on these two sides of Christ, our only response can be praise; the piece ends with a rousing rendition of “All My Heart Again Rejoices.”

Full orchestration for choirs, piano, organ, and brass. Price allows you to make as many copies as you need for your ensemble.
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (BEACH SPRING)
$5.00 – $20.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/come_thou_long_expected-beachspring.mp3"][/audio]
The Advent text “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” is sung to several tunes. Full of longing and melancholy, BEACH SPRING emphasizes the now- and not-yet-ness of Advent. This arrangement could also be used with other texts set to BEACH SPRING, including “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy.”
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (HYFRYDOL)
$5.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hyfrydol-come_thou_long_expected.mp3"][/audio]
The Advent text “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” is sung to several tunes. HYFRYDOL, written by 19th-century Welsh composer Rowland Prichard, is a bright tune that prepares the joy of Christmas well and makes for a great closing hymn. This arrangement accompanies congregational singing and could be used with other texts set to HYFRYDOL, including “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.”

Note: The piano and string arrangements can be played together, but they are also complete when played independently.
[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/hyfrydol-come_thou_long_expected-strings.mp3"][/audio]
Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (STUTTGART)
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[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/stuttgart-come_thou_long_expected-piano.mp3"][/audio]

The Advent text “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” is sung to several tunes. STUTTGART, first published in Christian F. Witt’s 1715 Psalmodia Sacra, makes a great opening hymn for an Advent service.

Piano accompaniment for congregational singing, with a C instrument descant thrown in for free!
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing – strings
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[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wendell-hark_the_herald-1.mp3"][/audio]
This string arrangement was written for Wendell Kimbrough and Church of the Incarnation, Dallas. Wendell’s take on this carol has an understated rhythmic groove that breathes new life into a classic.

Arrangement for strings to accompany congregational singing. Download includes score and parts for violins 1 and 2, viola, and cello. Purchase price allows you to print as many copies as you need for your ensemble.
Keur Moussa Magnificat (Mon âme exalte le Seigneur)
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https://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/keur_moussa_magnificat-COS.mp3

In 2019, Church of the Servant commissioned me to arrange a lovely Magnificat by Keur Moussa. The Keur Moussa community, which is something like the Taizé of Senegal, has developed its own style of singing that combines the beautiful austerity of Catholic chant with the insistent rhythms of West Africa. Trying to remain in the spirit of the original piece, this arrangement is complex, but not flashy; exciting, but still mesmerizing.

Arrangement for SATB choir, flute, strings, guitar, mbira, shakers, dumbek, and drum set. Purchase price includes full score, all instrumental parts, and permission to make multiple copies for choir.
Lo, How a Rose (ES IST EIN ROS)
$25.00 – $35.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/02-Lo-How-A-Rose.mp3"][/audio]
One of the most lovely songs of the Advent/Christmas season is turned into a tender jazz ballad. An oft omitted verse is included (“O Flow’r whose fragrance tender…”) and a short soprano solo provides extra vocal texture. This flexible choral anthem includes chord symbols for jazz combo, but it can also be sung a cappella, as in the recording above by the Heinz Chapel Choir of the University of Pittsburgh. The orchestral accompaniment is also flexible, allowing full orchestra or just the strings to support the sound of the choir and piano.
[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/lo_how_a_rose.mp3"][/audio]
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
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[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/wendell-lo_how_a_rose.mp3"][/audio]
My previous arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose” was written in a jazz ballad style. This arrangement, written for Wendell Kimbrough and Church of the Incarnation, Dallas, brings a gentle 6/8 lilt to the carol.

Arrangement for strings to accompany congregational singing. Download includes score and parts for violins 1 and 2, viola, and cello. Purchase price allows you to print as many copies as needed for your ensemble.
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming – strings
$25.00 Add to cart

[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/lo_how_a_rose-strings.mp3"][/audio]
A simple instrumental arrangement of this tender carol for strings and piano in a jazz ballad style.

Note: This arrangement does not match the choral arrangement of the same carol.

Download includes score and parts for piano, violins 1 and 2, viola, cello, and bass. Purchase price allows you to download as many parts as you need for your ensemble.
Mary’s Song (Our King of Peace)
$0.00 – $35.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page

[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/marys_song.mp3"][/audio]
Wendell Kimbrough’s setting of Mary’s Song captures the wonder, fear, and obedience of Mary’s response to Gabriel’s message. The song is a perfect fit for Advent, Christmas, and Lessons and Carols services. The choral arrangement places the choir alongside folk instruments, which is a lovely marriage for those who lead blended worship.