Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Cover Image

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!: Choral Octavo SoundTrax CD

$27.99 USD
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Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Cover Image

Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!: Choral Octavo SoundTrax CD

Words and music by Mary Donnelly and George L. O. Strid

Item: 00-41779

$27.99
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Description
According to the lyrics, this is the song that Santa and his reindeer and elves love to sing. And who can blame them? It's irresistibly jolly! When we play "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" on our kazoos, the cheer-factor skyrockets!

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Additional Details
Series: Alfred Choral Designs
Publisher: Alfred Music
UPC: 038081468594
SKU: 00-41779

More about this title

About the Composer: Mary Donnelly

Mary Donnelly

Mary Donnelly grew up in Reno, Nevada, and studied English and French at the University of Nevada, Reno. While completing her undergraduate degree, she founded and directed two children's choruses, an experience that redirected her toward music education. She pursued formal training in music pedagogy at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, earning a Master's Degree in Education with a focus on arts integration.

Donnelly taught general music and choir in Nevada's Washoe County School District for three decades before retiring. In 1985, she began collaborating with George L. O. Strid during a team-taught sixth-grade music class when their principal commissioned a musical for Reading Week. That initial project launched a prolific partnership: together they have composed over two hundred songs and twenty-five full musicals. Donnelly remains active in ACDA, NEA, and ASCAP.

Why we love this

This novelty arrangement captures the infectious energy that happens when you hand a choir kazoos and a cheerful melody. The recorded accompaniment frees your singers to focus on rhythm and intonation while playing, and the concept itself is so inherently fun that even reluctant singers lean into the performance. It's the kind of piece that reminds everyone why choir should make people smile.

What to expect

Pure, unfiltered Christmas cheer with a wink. The kazoo texture adds a homemade, carnival-like warmth to a melody everyone knows, transforming a standard holiday greeting into something genuinely delightful. It's the sonic equivalent of a holiday party where everyone's having too much fun to care about being polished.

Who it's for

This octavo suits any choir looking for a holiday concert closer that combines accessibility with genuine entertainment value. It works equally well with middle school and high school ensembles, community choirs, and church music programs seeking novelty repertoire that doesn't sacrifice musicianship.

How to get the most out of it

  • Distribute kazoos well before rehearsal and let singers practice the "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" melody on them separately so they arrive prepared to blend with the vocal parts.
  • Balance the kazoo timbre against the choir by having vocalists sing with clear diction and full resonance; the novelty works best when both parts are equally committed.
  • Use the recorded accompaniment to lock tempos early and establish the jolly rhythmic character that makes this arrangement tick.
  • Consider staging the kazoo players and singers in distinct visual sections so the audience clearly hears the two-layer texture.

How to use it

Reserve this for your concert finale when you want to send the audience out smiling. It pairs well alongside more traditional holiday repertoire earlier in the program, offering tonal and timbral contrast while keeping the mood consistently festive. The short learning curve makes it ideal for adding to a winter concert program late in the rehearsal calendar.

Skills your students will build

  • Rhythmic precision while managing a secondary instrumental responsibility
  • Blend and balance between vocal and non-traditional instrumental lines
  • Performance confidence in novelty and entertainment contexts
  • Melodic security in unison and simple part structures

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