Fantasia on "Christmas Comes Anew": Score
Sing We Now of Christmas
Traditional French Carol / arr. Michael Story
Grade: 2 (Easy)
Item: 00-PR-0003235
$9.00
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Description
"Christmas Comes Anew," also known as "Noel Nouvelet" and "Sing We Now of Christmas," is a popular French carol written in the early 1500s. Michael Story's fantasia setting will be sure to bring a holiday smile to the faces of all! This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Fantasia on "Christmas Comes Anew": Score comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
Belwin Young Band
Publisher:
Alfred Music
Page Count:
134
SKU:
00-PR-0003235
More about this title
About the Arranger: Mike Story
Mike Story is a prolific composer and arranger whose work appears regularly in concert band and wind ensemble libraries. His arrangements for young bands strike a balance between musical substance and accessibility, allowing developing ensembles to engage with familiar material while building core musicianship skills.
Why we love this
Story's treatment of this 16th-century French carol respects the tune's inherent beauty while adding just enough harmonic and textural interest to hold an audience. The Grade 2 setting means your band gets genuine musicality without getting bogged down in technical demands, freeing rehearsal time to focus on phrasing, blend, and the seasonal warmth the carol naturally carries.
What to expect
Warm and approachable, yet harmonically rewarding. The carol's medieval melody gains depth through Story's arrangement without losing its essential character, creating something that sounds both familiar and freshly orchestrated for the young band sound.
Who it's for
Band directors looking for a substantial holiday selection that won't derail rehearsal schedules or overwhelm less experienced players. This fantasia works well for December concerts, holiday assemblies, or community performances where a recognizable carol serves both artistic and programmatic purposes.
How to get the most out of it
- Balance the melody carefully across sections; the carol's strength depends on the tune singing clearly even when harmonies grow richer in the middle of the piece.
- Shape phrases with gentle dynamic arcs rather than holding a single volume level throughout each section, which helps the familiar tune stay engaging across 134 pages.
- Tune the interval relationships in the harmonies with extra care; simple accompaniment requires precise intonation to sound polished.
How to use it
Include this in a winter concert as a centerpiece holiday selection alongside other seasonal repertoire, or pair it with contrasting non-holiday works to give your concert architectural variety. At Grade 2, it serves equally well as a feature item or part of a thematic holiday program that celebrates traditional material.
Skills your students will build
- Balancing melody against harmonic accompaniment in a full band texture
- Phrasing and shaping extended melodic lines across multiple phrases
- Intonation in sustained harmonic progressions
- Blending section sound while maintaining individual voice clarity