Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/68157
3 The cantata can be performed simply, with only choir, soloists, narrators, and accompaniment. If you would like to add a simple pageant, bring costumed characters onto the stage area as they are mentioned in the songs, resulting in a living manger scene. (The wise men can remain "afar," if you want to have a chronologically-correct crèche.) Production Notes Two narrators are required, but the speaking parts can be divided among more readers if desired. The narrations are written in (primarily) blank verse, but please read them as normal sentences and not in a sing-song poetic style. Take breaths where there are commas or periods, and not necessarily at the end of every line. (Listen to the demo recording for sample readings.) The three Interludes can be sung by soloists or by an entire choir section. The song The Friendly Beasts can be sung either by the women of the choir, or a children's choir if you would like to include them. Each animal should be assigned to a soloist (man, woman, or child); feel free to take a lighthearted approach to this number. If you use the full instrumental ensemble, please take time to work out a good balance for the acoustics of your church or performance area. You may need to ask the brass and percussion to hold back, depending on the sound of the room and the size of your choir. Lorenz is happy to provide to you downloadable images/graphics to help enhance your presentation of this work. These images are royalty-free, which means that you can use them for free promotional items like bulletins, posters, and fliers. We do request that you only use these for promotion of a live performance of a Lorenz piece. To access these files, please visit www.lorenz.com/downloads and navigate to the desired folder. PC users should right click and choose "Save Target As..." and Macintosh users should click and hold the link, then choose "Save Target As..." We have provided standard file formats that should be usable in most page layout or word processing software. If you are having difficulties, we suggest using the help feature of your particular software concerning images. Due to the vast number of differences in computer system setups, we are unable to provide technical support for downloadable images/graphics by either phone or email. 65/2043&45L-3 Preview Copy