The Faber Carol Book: SA(B) Choral Book

This collection cuts through the glut of recycled Christmas arrangements by pairing genuine musical freshness with practical voicing reality. Forty pieces give you real programming flexibility, and the inclusion of original commissions alongside reimagined carols means your choir performs something with substance, not nostalgia padding. The SA(B) voicing solves an actual problem many youth and community choirs face, without forcing singers into unsuitable ranges or requiring last-minute revoicing.

The collection spans a wide emotional landscape, from the contemplative hush of reworked carols to the energy of spirituals and world music arrangements. Contemporary compositional voices sit alongside traditional melodies, creating a program that feels curated rather than generic, with genuine musical substance woven throughout.

This book serves youth choirs, community choirs, and amateur adult ensembles where male voices are limited or absent. It is equally valuable for directors seeking concert material that feels current and musically serious without becoming unwieldy to rehearse.

• Balance the upper voices carefully in pieces with divisi passages; these arrangements often layer soprano and alto lines that can obscure either part if one voice dominates the blend.
• Treat the keyboard accompaniment as a baseline only. The optional instrumental lines suggested throughout are worth pursuing, even if you start with just one or two instruments in rehearsal.
• Vary your rehearsal approach across the collection's moods and styles. A contemporary spiritual needs a different energy than a reworked medieval carol; practice strategies that match each piece's character will accelerate learning.
• Pay attention to text clarity in faster passages. Contemporary arrangements sometimes compress traditional lyrics or introduce overlapping text; mark these moments early and drill diction specifically.

Build your December concert around this single source and let the forty pieces guide your programming arc. You might open with something contemporary and energetic, settle into meditative arrangements mid-program, then close with a spiritually rooted original commission. The variety means you can construct a complete concert that speaks to different musical traditions without feeling scattered.

• Balancing divisi soprano and alto lines with independence and blend
• Singing contemporary harmonic language and non-traditional chord progressions
• Executing text clarity in varied musical styles, from medieval to modern
• Responding to diverse musical characters and moods across a single rehearsal
• Sight-reading straightforward keyboard accompaniments and identifying optional instrumental cues