Fantasia for Christmas (based on "The Ukrainian Bell Carol"): Concert Band Conductor Score & Parts

This arrangement proves that a familiar carol can sustain a full concert band treatment without losing its warmth or becoming overwrought. Del Borgo's use of metal percussion as a sonic complement (rather than mere decoration) gives the band something genuinely exciting to work toward, and the architecture from whisper to crescendo teaches students about dynamic control and ensemble blend across a single, cohesive arc.

The familiar carol unfolds with new grandeur, its simple beauty gradually revealed as a canvas for sweeping harmonic colors and brilliant brass passages. Metal percussion cuts through the ensemble like frost catching light. The piece builds from intimate and contemplative to transcendent, then resolves with satisfaction rather than exhaustion.

Bands working at Grade 5 level who want a closer alternative to the standard holiday concert opener or finisher. This works equally well for festival performances, holiday concerts, or any setting where you need a piece that respects your audience's intelligence and your students' developing musicianship.

• Shape the opening carefully: the quiet beginning requires precise intonation and synchronized attacks from your thinner texture, setting up the impact of what follows
• Balance percussion and winds during the climactic passages so the metal sounds enhance rather than bury the melodic lines
• Plan articulation choices in the wind parts early in rehearsal; consistency across similar phrases makes the rising intensity feel intentional and controlled
• Use the score's dynamic markings as architectural guideposts, not arbitrary symbols; each peak and valley serves the overall narrative arc

Reserve this for the final piece of your holiday concert; its structure and trajectory make it a natural closer that sends audiences home with both the carol's recognition and Del Borgo's reharmonization in their ears. The recorded time of 3:19 fits neatly into most concert pacing.

• Dynamic shaping across extended phrases (pp to fff)
• Balancing melodic content with percussion and brass color
• Synchronized ensemble attacks in soft, sparse textures
• Recognizing and executing harmonic reharmonization of a familiar tune
• Building and sustaining intensity through orchestrational rather than purely rhythmic means