Christmas Music

Stop Press: Here is a colourful Musical Advent Calendar by composer Peter Buffett.

Christmas is a universal time of celebration, though the event might be celebrated in widely different ways. For many people that celebration might involve the social aspects of meeting family and friends, the giving and receiving of presents, a celebratory meal, perhaps a party or two, and maybe participation in a church service. While Christmas is a single day, the Christmas period can sometimes include months of preparation, several days of shopping to buy presents, the sending of cards, decorating the house, and perhaps setting up a tree. Even meal preparations can take some effort and planning, whether you are choosing to eat at a restaurant, or making all the necessary food preparations personally, not forgetting some of the little extras like baking a cake or mince pies.

Throughout all this period music will undoubtedly play a part, and there are many songs and pieces of music which are strongly associated with Christmas whether they mention it or not. There are the traditional Christmas Carols, many of which are hymns celebrating the birth of Christ, and there are popular songs about the festivities and all the things associated with them. It seems that to become a "Christmas Song" you only have to mention or otherwise suggest Christmas, snow, snowmen, sleigh-rides, Santa Claus, bells or reindeers. Once you have written a successful Christmas Song, you can be assured of regular royalty payments coming your way once a year as the song is broadcast on radio, television, shops and other public places. Films can also become labelled as Christmas films which get regular repeat viewings, and they only have to include a Christmas scene or two to qualify for that honour.

If you are on the lookout for all things Christmas, we can recommend Santa Land which looks back to the era of the Traditional Christmas. Send a letter to Santa, read holiday stories, find Christmas carols, lyrics, recipes, arts and crafts. You can also track Santa on Christmas Eve.

Traditional Christmas Carols from mfiles

At mfiles we only provide free sheet music for public domain songs, but we have created a number of different versions of each which should cater for many different musical instruments. If you click on any of the following titles you will find the sheet music for different instruments. Here is our catalogue of Christmas Carols, including midi and mp3 versions of the arrangements:

• The Wexford Carol - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Once in Royal David's City - Henry J. Gauntlett (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• What Child is This? - Traditional: "Greensleeves" (Play, Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Oh Little Town of Bethlehem - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Joy to the World - Lowell Mason (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Felix Mendelssohn (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Silent Night - Franz Gruber (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Away in a Manger W. J. Kirkpatrick (Print, MIDI, or MP3)
• The First Nowell - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Good Christian Men Rejoice - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• The Holly and the Ivy - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Deck the Halls - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• God rest you Merry Gentlemen - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• A Coventry Carol (guitar) - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• The Huron Carol (guitar) - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Gabriel's Message (guitar) - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• I Saw Three Ships (guitar) - Traditional (Print, MIDI or MP3)
• Cradled in a Manger Meanly (guitar) - S J P Duncan (Print, MIDI or MP3)

Other Christmas Recommendations :

You will notice that the music for some of these Carols has been written by Classical composers. Quite a lot of Christmas Songs have also been written for films, the most obvious example being "White Christmas". Among many other pieces of Christmas music composed by Classical or Film composers, the following items can be purchased from various online sources:

• The "Sleigh Ride" (Troika) from Lieutenant Kije by Sergei Prokofiev - at di-arezzo.com (search for "kije")
• "Walking in the Air" from The Snowman by Howard Blake - at The MusicRoom and di-arezzo.com
• "Somewhere in my Memory" (and "Star of Bethlehem") from Home Alone by John Williams - at SheetMusicPlus and Music Notes (search for "home alone")
• The music notes site has a large collection of Christmas Sheet Music for various instruments many of which can be downloaded online
• Virtual Sheet Music also has a sizeable collection of Christmas Sheet Music available for many instruments
• And here are some additional suggestions from SheetMusicPlus.com :

Vince Guaraldi: Charlie Brown Christmas - Composed by Vince Guaraldi. For solo piano. Format: piano solo songbook. With chord names and illustrations. Jazz, tv and christmas. 40 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.313176) See more info...

Cool Yule - (10 Jazzy Christmas Songs) Arranged by Steve Calderone. For solo piano. Format: piano solo book. With standard notation and chord names. Christmas, holiday and jazz. 48 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Warner Brothers. (WB.AF9832) See more info...

The Big Christmas Collection For Easy Guitar - For guitar and voice. Includes easy guitar/vocal songbook (Simplified arrangements for guitar and voice). With leadsheet notation (melody and lyrics), guitar chord diagrams and strum and pick patterns. Christmas and holiday. 120 pages. 9x12 inches. Published by Hal Leonard. (HL.698978) See more info...

And of course the story for "The Nutcracker" which was used by Pyotr Tchaikovsky for his ballet of the same name is set at Christmas Time, with lots of toys and magical events. Music from this ballet has been used in a number of films too, such as the original "Fantasia". The music for the Sugar Plum Fairy is one of the most popular tunes from this ballet, and it sounds quite Christmassy too.

Christmas MP3 Recordings :

Additionally, here are MP3s of some Christmas Carols sung by Stephen J Miller accompanied on guitar by his brother Philip Daniel Miller. Stephen holds two world records due to his phenomenal voice which can hold a single note steadily for a long time. The final track below demonstrates this talent, performed at a charity event.

• Angels We Have Heard On High
• God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
• Silent Night
• You're So Perfect You Don't Need Me Anyway

Special Offer - Christmas Carol course on DVD

Many visitors have already discovered the piano improvisation courses offered by PlayPianoTips.com. Their latest seasonal course comes as a 2-DVD set which looks at many different ways to play a variety of traditional Christmas Carols. The course teaches a range of different techniques and shows how to put them into good practice. Just a few lessons like these will give you confidence at improvising your favourite seasonal pieces. This special offer also includes some bonus material which means that the course is useful at any time of year. Visit the Christmas Piano DVD Offer page for full details.