On This Day Earth Shall Ring Cover Image

On This Day Earth Shall Ring: Concert Band Conductor Score

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On This Day Earth Shall Ring Cover Image
On This Day Earth Shall Ring: Concert Band Conductor Score

On This Day Earth Shall Ring: Concert Band Conductor Score

Festive Processional on Personent Hodie

Melody from Piae Cantiones (1582) / arr. Scott Watson (BMI)

Grade: 3

Item: 00-49516S
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Description
The 14th-century carol, "Personent hodie," is both mysterious and powerful. On This Day Earth Shall Ring---a festive processional on the ancient melody arranged by Scott Watson---explores both aspects. Beginning quietly, the modal tune emerges over a chant drone with rustic, medieval percussion. Before long, the piece takes on the joyous character alluded to in the tune's most familiar English text setting, "On This Day Earth Shall Ring" (written by composer, Jane Joseph, a student of Gustav Holst). As the work draws to an ebullient close, all the stops are pulled with resounding brass and ringing metallic percussion! Whether used as a striking concert opener or a jubilant final selection, On This Day Earth Shall Ring will add festive élan to your winter/holiday program! (3:28) This title is available in MakeMusic Cloud.

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Additional Details
Series: Young Symphonic
Publisher: Alfred Music
ISBN10: 1-4706-4953-5
ISBN13: 978-1-4706-4953-1
UPC: 038081570310
SKU: 00-49516S

More about this title

About the Composer: Piae Cantiones

Piae Cantiones is a 16th-century Finnish hymnal that preserved a treasury of medieval Latin songs and carols. Compiled during a time when many older liturgical melodies were being lost to history, this collection captured sacred music that might otherwise have vanished. The surviving texts and tunes from Piae Cantiones represent some of the most enduring winter and Christmas music in the Western tradition, with "Personent hodie" standing among its most recognizable and musically powerful contributions.

For music educators, Piae Cantiones matters because it bridges medieval and Renaissance sensibilities, offering authentic harmonic and melodic source material that sounds fresh to modern ears. The collection continues to inspire new arrangements across genres, from chamber works to full concert band scoring, making it a reliable source for programming music with genuine historical roots.

Why we love this

Scott Watson's arrangement captures the architecture of "Personent hodie" without forcing it into conventional harmony. Starting from stillness and building toward jubilation mirrors the carol's own spiritual arc, and the choice to let modal melody breathe over drone before the celebration erupts gives conductors real dramatic material to shape. At Grade 3, this sits perfectly for groups ready to balance restraint with excitement.

What to expect

The opening is contemplative, almost liturgical, as if entering a quiet medieval space. Energy gradually accumulates through the middle section, and the final measures arrive as pure celebration, with brass and percussion radiating joy and resonance. There's real spiritual weight here alongside genuine fun.

Who it's for

Grade 3 concert bands looking for holiday programming with substance. Directors who want a piece that opens quietly and intellectually before earning its festive conclusion will find the structural contrast rewarding. This works for ensembles comfortable with modal writing and interested in exploring pre-tonal musical thinking.

How to get the most out of it

  • Establish the chant drone as your foundation in early rehearsals. The rustic percussion and modal melody depend on that tonal anchor to sound intentional rather than vague.
  • Balance the quiet opening so that the melody feels present but never strained. Students often rush modal music when they're uncertain; steady pulse and patient articulation solve this.
  • The shift toward jubilation deserves rehearsal time as a sectional moment. Mark where the character turns and let brass and percussion know they're entering a different world.
  • Coordinate your metallic percussion so each strike lands with clarity. Undisciplined strikes muddy the final brightness you've worked to build.

How to use it

Open a winter concert with this to signal something more thoughtful than typical holiday fare. The balance of reverence and merriment makes it equally effective as a finale if you program it alongside lighter selections earlier in the set. Contest and festival adjudicators recognize solid arranging and musical maturity in this score.

Skills your students will build

  • Sustaining tone and blend over a static harmonic foundation
  • Reading and performing modal melody without relying on major/minor tonality
  • Executing articulate, rhythmically precise entrance cues during dynamic contrasts
  • Coordinating percussion color changes to enhance structural turning points
  • Balancing transparency in sparse textures before transitioning to full ensemble voicing

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