Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: https://read.jwpepper.com/i/824376
2 45/1631H-2 Foreword What a wonderful experience it has been to create International Carol Suites. It all started with a book of international carols that was given to my family by my sister-in-law, Peggy Hayes, as a Christmas gift back in 1971, and eventually evolved into what you hold in your hands. International Carol Suites contains 30 carols, representing the following 20 countries: Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bohemia, Russia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Venezuela, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada and the United States. The work is arranged in a group of five geographically themed suites, which are each approximately ten minutes in duration. Each suite may be performed by itself, or in combination with others. The preferred performance sequence is listed below, but may be changed at the discretion of the director. 1. Carols of Western Europe 2. Carols of Eastern Europe 3. Carols of the British Isles 4. Carols of Central and South America 5. Carols of North America Scored for SATB voices, the five movements also feature solos for soprano, mezzo soprano/ alto, tenor, and baritone/bass. International Carol Suites includes English lyrics throughout, but I encourage you to perform carols in their original language, even if it's just one carol from a suite. Great care was taken to find the best English translation of each song, but in many cases, the translations are not literal. They express the spirit and sentiment of the original text while maintaining a sense of poetry and proper prosody. A Pronunciation Guide is available as a free download. Go to www.lorenz.com and search for "International Carol Suites." I am grateful to Dr. S. Russell Floyd, III, Minister of Music at First Presbyterian Church, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for commissioning this work, and to Heritage Music Press for making it available. Whether you perform this work with your school choir, community chorus, or church choir, in English or in the native language of the carols, I hope you experience a grander sense of Christmas as expressed through the universal language of music. The message of Christmas is amazing in every language! −Mark Hayes For Preview Only