The Friendly Beasts

As promised, we are providing you with another classic piece fabulously arranged by Paul Jennings. This is one he did many years ago for the Christmas season. We hope you, your students, and your audience enjoy it. The following is taken from Paul's original notes:

This ancient carol has always been a favorite of ours. Some attribute it to 12th century England, while others find its source in 16th century France. Either way, it is a beautiful and sensitive tale of the Nativity, told in a way unlike any other carol in common usage.

For this setting, we use six traditional verses: the first to introduce the scene, a verse apiece for four animals in the stable, then a closing verse to wrap it all up. It is arranged for a small orchestra with acoustic guitars and other folk instruments displayed in the interludes.

For the recording, we started each of the internal verses with a solo then let the ensemble sing the rest of the verse. You can perform it this same way, with the soloist doing the whole verse, or you can do the whole piece as a choral work for your entire group.

In the recorded arrangement, each animal verse is accompanied by a countermelody played by a different solo instrument: the donkey with trombone, the cow with oboe, the sheep with flugelhorn, and the dove with flute. All of the countermelodies come together under the final verse. Be sure to use this as a listening project for your singers as they learn the song. Have them listen for each instrument on the accompaniment tracks, and then listen to them entwine on the final verse.