A Christmas Symphony: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts

Del Borgo structures this as a genuine symphony rather than stringing carols together, which gives your students real architecture to perform and helps audiences hear these familiar melodies with fresh ears. Grade 1 accessibility means you can program this even with developing orchestras, yet the four-movement design lends substance to a holiday concert set.

Four well-loved carols unfold with clarity and warmth, each movement offering its own character while maintaining the cohesion of a unified work. The writing sits comfortably under young fingers yet avoids sounding thin or simplistic.

Beginning string orchestras that want holiday programming with actual musical shape. Directors seeking accessible material that still respects the intelligence of young players.

• Balance the melody across sections as it migrates between instruments; mark in your score where each part carries the tune so your strings learn to listen outward rather than protect their own line.
• Take the tempo relationships between movements seriously during rehearsal so transitions feel intentional rather than arbitrary.
• Treat the familiar melodies as legitimate material worth shaping with dynamic contrast and phrasing, not as background music.

Build a winter concert around this as your centerpiece, bookending it with one or two shorter carols arranged more traditionally to create variety within your holiday set. Alternatively, use it as the capstone of your fall rehearsal period, giving students a concrete goal as their technique solidifies.

• Sustaining tone across multi-movement works
• Tracking melodic lines as they shift between sections
• Responding to conductor-led tempo and dynamic changes
• Balance and blend in a four-part harmonic texture
• Playing with musical intention rather than note accuracy alone