O Holy Night

This arrangement of O Holy Night was written in 2022, after playing through every other version in the library. Our conductor really wanted a beautiful arrangement of this carol that wasn’t arranged like a pop song with a cheesy brass band drum beat.

I took this as a challenge and came back the next week with this arrangement.

Starting with a beautiful ostinato-like figure from the cornets, the melody begins with Soprano cornet and then gets passed from flugel to baritone. We hit a middle interlude from the baritones and euphoniums, before a 2nd reiteration of the melody from the full band. A ‘brazen’ section at bar 49 fills the air with a bleak yet powerful moment from cornets and trombones before ending as quietly as we started with similar motifs from the cornets.

Premiered December 2022 by the Brisbane Excelsior Brass Band.