I began this project as a gift to the Sing Omaha Youth Choirs (3-6th grade) and Girls Choir (7-12th grade) which is included in a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council, and both received its premier at Sing Omaha' s 2024 "Christmas Fanfare" concerts.
In writing for such a diverse age group, I endeavored to create singable (and memorable) melodic material for both verse and refrain material. I approached that challenge with an effort toward balancing simplicity with sincerity in both lyric and tune, and the result, I hope, feels like a modern ' carol' of sorts, with ' warmth' added by the French Horn.
This is also the first project for which I composed both music and lyrics, which was a joy.
The form is worth noting first, as it will make teaching quite efficient. The verses are at Letters A and C respectively, with the refrain at B and D, and a brief coda at E.
Verse melody is largely triadic with a mix of stepwise motion and triadic skips. Solfege users can build skill here with so-mi-do passages alongside s
