O Holy Night (SSAA)

SSAA + soprano solo

$2.00

Voicing/instrumentation: SSAA + soprano solo
Composer: Adolphe Adam, arr. Sam Kauffman and Joel Rittenhouse
Lyricist/text source: Placide Cappeau, trans. John Sullivan Dwight
Language: English
Duration: 3:00
Year: 2014
This arrangement year: 2025
See other versions of this work:

A fresh spin on a Christmas classic. Co-arranger Joel Rittenhouse and I have added little new variations throughout the piece, just enough to keep it interesting and new while still allowing the soloist to shine with all the schmaltz the audience will expect from this song.

A simple opening solo section with a tintinnabulary choral accompaniment is followed by a lush, antiphonal choral passage featuring duple, triple, and hemiola subdivisions bouncing off each other. The bells return briefly to bring the soloist back for a big finish, punctuated by joyous choral outbursts. After the soloist’s climactic high note, the bells bring the piece to a peaceful close.

The middle section has no solo but splits into additional parts: eight in the SATB version and six in the SSAA version. The TTBB version divides into two TTBB choirs with seven or eight total parts, depending how you count.

A portion of the revenue goes to co-arranger Joel Rittenhouse.

Performance of the TTBB version by Striking Accord, December 15, 2018. Joel Thomas, soloist.

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