Choirworks.com Music

  • O Little Town of Bethlehem (Forest Green) for SATB Choir and Piano

    Phillips Brooks’ beloved Christmas hymn takes on a lively, jubilant character in this setting of FOREST GREEN, the English folk melody collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams. With its buoyant rhythms and spirited forward motion, the tune brings an unexpected brightness to the familiar text, celebrating the wonder of Christ’s birth with warmth and energy. The SATB arrangement and piano accompaniment give this traditional pairing a festive lift, making it a refreshing alternative to the more familiar, gentle treatment of this Christmas favorite.

    The story behind this pairing is especially interesting. Brooks, an American Episcopal priest, wrote the text in 1868 for the Sunday school children of his Philadelphia church, inspired by his visit to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve in 1865. In the United States, the hymn is most often sung to ST. LOUIS, a melody composed by the church’s organist, Lewis Redner. Across the Atlantic, however, another tune became beloved.

    In December 1903, Vaughan Williams collected an English folk melody from a singer in Forest Green, Surrey, where it was associated with the traditional song The Ploughboy’s Dream. He later paired the melody with Brooks’s text for The English Hymnal, published in 1906. The result was a distinctive alternative to the American tune, one whose English folk roots give the hymn a different rhythmic character and a fresh sense of movement.

    Two musical traditions, separated by an ocean, thus grew around the same Christmas text. This SATB-and-piano setting celebrates the exuberance of FOREST GREEN, inviting choirs to rediscover a familiar carol with renewed energy and festive spirit.

  • Christmas Chopsticks (‘Twas the Night Before Christmas)

    Christmas Chopsticks
    Fred Heider, arr. M. Ryan Taylor
    SATB a cappella or SATB with piano

    What happens when one of the world’s most recognizable piano melodies meets one of the world’s most recognizable Christmas poems? Christmas Chopsticks!

    Fred Heider’s delightful 1951 novelty song sets Clement Clarke Moore’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas to the unmistakable melody of “Chopsticks,” creating a musical mash-up that is instantly recognizable and irresistibly silly. This fresh SATB setting embraces the playful spirit of the original with crisp rhythms, theatrical touches, and plenty of musical personality.

    First published in 1951, Christmas Chopsticks has enjoyed a surprisingly long life as a Christmas novelty. It has been recorded by artists ranging from Mindy Carson and Guy Lombardo to Bobby Vinton and Frankie Yankovic, and has continued to appear in Christmas collections and choral arrangements.

    This edition is available in both SATB a cappella and SATB with piano, giving choirs the flexibility to choose between the clean, comic precision of unaccompanied voices and the added theatrical sparkle of the piano accompaniment.

    A great choice for: Christmas concerts, holiday pops programs, novelty numbers, and any concert that could use a little musical mischief.

  • The Friendly Beasts, a jazz-inspired swing waltz for Choir & Piano

    This fresh setting of The Friendly Beasts turns one of Christmas music’s oldest stories into a warm, playful jazz-inspired swing waltz. The lilting 3/4 groove gives the familiar melody a relaxed, gently bouncing character, while the piano accompaniment adds rhythmic lift and harmonic color without losing the carol’s unmistakable charm. The result is festive and sophisticated, with plenty of room for singers to bring personality to the text.

    The arrangement is available in SSATB, SSA, and 2-part choir with piano, making it adaptable for adult, treble, youth, and developing ensembles. The music invites a lighter, more conversational approach than a traditional hymn-like treatment, allowing the individual animals—and their wonderfully imaginative gifts to the Christ child—to emerge with character.

    There’s more history behind this seemingly simple Christmas song than its playful text might suggest. The Friendly Beasts traces its roots to 12th-century France, where its melody was associated with the medieval Latin song Orientis Partibus, sometimes called the “Song of the Ass” or “Donkey Carol.” The original song celebrated the donkey who carried Mary and the infant Jesus, and was associated with the medieval Festival of the Ass, in which a donkey could actually be led into the church as part of the celebration.

    The familiar English text is much newer. It is generally attributed to Robert Davis, whose English adaptation appeared in the early 20th century, transforming the medieval donkey song into the charming Nativity story we know today: the donkey carries Mary, the cow offers its manger, the sheep provides wool, and the dove sings the baby to sleep.

    That combination of ancient melody, whimsical storytelling, and modern jazz-inflected rhythm is what makes this arrangement especially fun for a Christmas concert. It is recognizable, but it doesn’t sound like the same old carol—and it gives a choir the opportunity to bring both musical polish and a little personality to the Nativity story.

  • Little Lamb

    I remember being taught this song by my mother as a child. I think it is a darling, tender and lovely little addition to the Christmas children’s song tradition. I can’t bear the thought of it winking out of existence and being entirely forgotten, though my research into the authorship if the piece has yielded no results so far (see below).

    Here I have arranged it for SSA or SAB choir and piano, having performed it many times with my Christmas caroling groups with strummed or fingerpicked accompaniment (chords included). I’m releasing this version freely in the hope that it will not be lost and that others might discover (what I think is) an absolute gem.

    The surviving copy in my possession identifies the author only as “R.M.” and gives no publication information, date, publisher, or copyright notice. I have made an extensive search for the authorship and provenance of the song, including searches of the distinctive lyrics, historical children’s music catalogs, copyright-related records, and collections of children’s and Christmas music. The exact text does not appear to be readily indexed elsewhere, and I have not found a reliable source identifying “R.M.” with a particular composer or lyricist.

    The song does bear several characteristics of mid-20th-century children’s/Primary repertoire: it is a very short, simple song for young singers, marked “Tenderly,” with a question-and-answer structure that can be divided between two children. Because of this, I have specifically considered the possibility that it originated in the Latter-day Saint Primary music tradition. Historical LDS children’s publications—including the Church’s Sing with Me (1969) and other Primary song collections—were investigated. I have not found this particular song in the principal Sing with Me collection, however, so an LDS origin remains only a possibility. It may instead have appeared in The Children’s Friend, another supplementary Primary publication, a locally produced collection, or an unrelated children’s music publication.

    The song is not the familiar “Little Lamb” text by William Blake, nor is its melody the melody of Do You Hear What I Hear?, despite some thematic similarities. The surviving score appears to contain an original melody and text, credited simply to “R.M.”

    At present, therefore, the most accurate attribution is:

    “Little Lamb” — words and music by R.M. (unidentified)
    Publication date and original source: unknown
    Copyright status: undetermined

    I have deliberately not assumed that the work is in the public domain merely because the surviving copy contains no copyright notice. If the original publication can be located, its date, publication history, and any copyright or renewal information would need to be established before its legal status could be determined with confidence.

    I am making this copy freely available because it is a charming little song that deserves to survive, while acknowledging that its authorship and copyright history remain unresolved. If you have any information about the author of the melody and words, the original publication, or the identity of “R.M.” beyond what is documented here, please contact ryan@choirworks.com.

  • What Shall We Give? (El Noi de la Mare)

    What shall we give the Christ Child? In this lively setting of the traditional Catalan Christmas carol El Noi de la Mare (“The Child of the Mother”), the answer comes in the form of raisins, figs, walnuts, olives, honey—and finally, a song of praise.

    El Noi de la Mare is both a Christmas carol and a lullaby, and its history reaches back at least to the nineteenth century. The song was first collected in 1866 by Francesc Pelagi Briz in Cansons de la terra: Cants Populars Catalans, and was subsequently included by Manuel Milà i Fontanals in his Romancerillo catalán (1882), where it appeared under the title “Presentes al Niño Jesús.” In 1871, the poet Jacint Verdaguer published a revised version called Lo tam-pa-tan-tam, which became intertwined with the older traditional text. Like many traditional songs, El Noi de la Mare exists in numerous textual and melodic variants.

    This setting shapes the traditional material into a compact three-verse choral narrative, beginning with the simple question, “What shall we give?” and unfolding through an increasingly colorful catalogue of gifts before turning, in the final verse, to music itself as an offering. Bright, rhythmic choral writing alternates with more lyrical, songful passages, while the piano provides harmonic support and much of the rhythmic character. Conductors can highlight the playful, conversational opening, the accumulating lists of gifts, and the more expansive declaration of the final verse; the Tampatamta passages are most effective when treated with rhythmic precision and lightness.

    The English text is a new translation and adaptation by M. Ryan Taylor, drawn directly from traditional Catalan versions. The first two verses retain the traditional imagery of raisins, figs, walnuts, olives, honey, and mató (a fresh Catalan cheese or curd). The third verse is entirely original, extending the traditional idea of offering gifts by asking what we might give when our gift is simply the music we can make.

    Lyrics

    I

    What shall we give to the Son of our Mary?
    What can we give that the Child will enjoy?
    First, let us bring him a tray full of raisins,
    Then let us offer sweet figs to the Boy,
    Tampatamta, bring a tray full of raisins,
    Tampatamta, and sweet figs to the Boy.

    II

    What can we give to the beautiful Child?
    What can we give the Beloved of Mary?
    Raisins and walnuts and olives and honey,
    Sweetly ripe figs and fresh cheese that is mild.
    Tampatamta, walnuts, olives and honey,
    Tampatamta and fresh cheese that is mild.

    III

    What can we sing Him? A song of great beauty?
    What if we sing as those angels above?
    “Peace and goodwill to the sons of the morning,
    Glory and praise to the Author of Love.”
    Tampatamta, all ye sons of the morning,
    Tampatamta, praise the Author of Love!
    Tampatamta, praise the Author of Love!

  • On Christmas Day in the Morning (The Blessed Day by Louisa May Alcott) for 2-Part or Unison Choir & Piano

    A bright, compact Christmas carol setting of Louisa May Alcott’s charming poem The Blessed Day, On Christmas Day in the Morning looks forward to Christmas through the eyes of children: what will they bring? What will they sing? The answer is wonderfully simple—“Love and joy to Christ their king” and “the grand old carols.”

    Alcott included The Blessed Day in her 1880 novel Jack and Jill. In the Christmas scene, the children gather around the tree, and after the festivities they “take hands round the tree” and sing the song. The setting is especially fitting in that context: the poem itself celebrates the act of singing together as a Christmas offering.

    Taylor’s setting embraces that communal, old-fashioned caroling spirit. The opening unfolds in a gently lilting 6/8, giving the verses an easy, rocking motion before the music shifts into a more animated 2/4 for the refrain. The change of meter gives the chorus the buoyant character of a traditional English caroling song—reminiscent of the lively rhythmic turn of Here We Come a-Caroling—and provides a natural sense of gathering momentum.

    Written for 2-part or unison choir with piano, the piece is accessible enough for young singers while remaining musically useful for developing treble, community, school, church, or mixed-age ensembles. Its brevity makes it particularly versatile: it can serve as a charming opening number, a transition within a Christmas program, or a musical introduction to a larger carol.

    It is especially effective as a prelude to a traditional carol in D or G, with the final invitation to sing naturally opening the door to a familiar congregational or audience carol. A conductor could even use it as the musical bridge into a Christmas carol sing-along, allowing Alcott’s nineteenth-century children to become, in effect, an invitation for the audience to join them.

    Text — Louisa May Alcott

    What shall little children bring
    On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
    What shall little children bring
    On Christmas Day in the morning?

    This shall little children bring
    On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
    Love and joy to Christ their king,
    On Christmas Day in the morning!

    What shall little children sing
    On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
    What shall little children sing
    On Christmas Day in the morning?

    The grand old carols shall they sing
    On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day;
    With all their hearts, their offerings bring
    On Christmas Day in the morning.

  • Torches – A Folk Carol for the Advent Season

    Torches is a lively, folk-inspired Advent carol about watchfulness, preparation, and the joyful anticipation of Christ’s coming. Inspired by the parable of the ten virgins and their lamps in Matthew 25, the piece imagines those lamps as torches—flames lifted high against the darkness, sustained drop by drop as the faithful prepare for the Bridegroom’s arrival.

    The musical inspiration comes in part from J. S. Bach’s Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Sleepers, Awake), particularly its imagery of the watchman’s call, the Bridegroom, and the waiting brides. Rather than imitating Bach’s Baroque style, Torches transforms those ideas into an energetic contemporary folk carol, with a lilting dance pulse, recurring wordless “Woahoh” refrain, rhythmic piano accompaniment, and exuberant choral writing.

    The music moves from the darkness and quiet preparation of the verses toward the joyful refrain, “We will dance, we’ll sing, / ‘Trim your torch,’ each voice will ring.” The final section brings the watchman’s call and the image of many torches held high together: “light the sky with the supply you’re carrying.” The result is an Advent piece that treats waiting not as passive anticipation, but as an active, joyful preparation for the coming of the King.

    Lyrics

    Woahoh, oh, oh, oh.

    When underneath the darkest sky
    we lift our torches to the wind
    with hope that they will keep on burning,
    oil once hidden deep inside
    transformed to light the dance of those
    who will rejoice at His returning.

    We will dance, we’ll sing,
    “Trim your torch,” each voice will ring.
    Yes, we’ll dance, we’ll sing,
    celebrating ’til the stars grow pale,
    this dawn the brides embraced by her dear King.

    Woahoh, oh, oh, oh.

    And drop by drop we fill each torch;
    we’re saving day by day a little
    since the founding of our nation.
    Keep a keen and careful watch,
    that we might celebrate His coming,
    like the dawning of creation.

    We will dance, we’ll sing,
    “Trim your torch,” each voice will ring.
    Yes, we’ll dance, we’ll sing,
    celebrating ’til the stars grow pale,
    this dawn the brides embraced by her dear King.

    Listen for the watchman’s call,
    “Great and small, leave ev’rything
    but your lamps and torches; hold them high,
    light the sky with the supply you’re carrying.”

  • Slowly Fall the Snowflakes – A Christmas Carol

    Text by Frederick George Lee (1832–1898), with original third verse by M. Ryan Taylor. Music by M. Ryan Taylor

    A quiet snowfall becomes a vivid metaphor for the mystery of Christmas in this gentle, expressive setting of Frederick George Lee’s nineteenth-century Christmas poem. Slowly Fall the Snowflakes pairs wintry imagery—snow-covered earth, chiming bells, and the stillness of Christmas morning—with a deeply Christian meditation on the Incarnation: “Christ the curse reversing, Mary’s Son is born.”

    The music unfolds with an unhurried, flowing character, allowing the piano to create a delicate winter atmosphere beneath warm, lyrical SATB writing. The choral texture gradually expands from intimate passages into fuller, resonant sonorities, giving the familiar imagery increasing breadth and weight. Particular attention to text setting makes the piece especially effective for ensembles that value expressive phrasing and clear storytelling.

    The second verse draws a beautiful connection between falling snow and divine grace—“In the chill descending, like the grace of God”—before arriving at the central proclamation, “Lies in Bethlehem’s manger / Great Emmanuel.” Taylor’s adaptation of Lee’s third verse then turns explicitly toward the imagery of light: the snow becomes “angel-like,” the darkness gives way to sunlight, and those who “walked in darkness” are invited to greet the Light of Light.

    The result is a Christmas carol that feels both peaceful and purposeful—well suited to a Christmas concert, worship service, or program centered on the quieter, contemplative side of the season. Its moderate demands and predominantly lyrical vocal writing make it accessible while still offering opportunities for an experienced choir to shape beautiful tone, balance, and harmonic color.

    Performance time: approximately 3½ minutes.

    About the Lyrics

    This setting draws on Frederick George Lee’s nineteenth-century Christmas poem, preserving the first two verses while adding an original third verse by M. Ryan Taylor. Taylor’s new final stanza shifts the imagery from falling snow and the manger at Bethlehem toward the dawning light of Christ, bringing the carol to a luminous conclusion.

    Slowly fall the snowflakes,
    Clothing earth in white,
    Sweetly bells are chiming,
    On this Christmas night;
    Dark the earth aforetime,
    White on Christmas morn;
    Christ the curse reversing,
    Mary’s Son is born.

    Slowly fall the snowflakes,
    Virgin white the sod,
    In the chill descending,
    Like the grace of God;
    Wild the varied chimings,
    One tale all they tell:
    Lies in Bethlehem’s manger
    Great Emmanuel.

    Slowly fall the snowflakes,
    Glinting in the dawn,
    Angellike they greet us,
    With their sparkling song:
    “Earth is dark no longer,
    Sunbeams drown the night.
    You, who walked in darkness,
    Greet the Light of Light!”

    Lee’s original 3rd verse for comparison:

    Slowly fall the snowflakes,
    Hang the holly high,
    Bright its berries greeting
    God Incarnate nigh;
    Dark the earth no longer,
    Barren nevermore,
    Grace-flowers spring to blossom
    On the eternal shore.

  • We Three Kings of Orient Are : a Jazz-Inspired Swing Waltz for Choir & Piano

    This jazz-inspired arrangement of John Henry Hopkins Jr.’s “We Three Kings” gives the beloved Epiphany carol a fresh rhythmic personality without losing its unmistakable melody. The piano establishes a buoyant swing-waltz groove, while the choir moves between straightforward presentations of the tune and increasingly colorful harmonic and rhythmic writing. Syncopations, jazz-inflected harmonies, contrasting textures, and dynamic shaping keep the arrangement moving.

    The arrangement begins with the mysterious, minor-tinged atmosphere associated with the traditional carol before opening into a warmer, more expansive sound. As the journey of the Magi unfolds, the music alternates between intimate passages and fuller, more energetic choral statements. The final section gathers momentum toward a broad, celebratory conclusion, transforming the familiar “star of wonder” refrain into a satisfying jazz-waltz finale.

    About the Carol

    John Henry Hopkins Jr. wrote We Three Kings of Orient Are in 1857, originally for a Christmas pageant at the General Theological Seminary in New York City. He later published it in Carols, Hymns, and Songs in 1863. The original publication actually envisioned three male singers representing the three kings, with individual verses assigned as solos (as is an option in this arrangement).

    The five stanzas trace the journey and meaning of the Magi’s gifts: gold represents Christ’s kingship, frankincense his divinity, and myrrh foreshadows his death. The final stanza brings these themes together in its declaration of Christ as “King and God and Sacrifice.”

    Text

    1.
    We three kings of Orient are;
    Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
    Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
    Following yonder star.

    Refrain:
    O star of wonder, star of night,
    Star with royal beauty bright,
    Westward leading, still proceeding,
    Guide us to thy perfect light.

    2.
    Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain,
    Gold I bring to crown Him again;
    King forever, ceasing never,
    Over us all to reign.

    3.
    Frankincense to offer have I;
    Incense owns a Deity nigh;
    Prayer and praising, voices raising,
    Worshiping God on high.

    4.
    Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
    Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
    Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
    Sealed in a [borrowed] tomb.

    5.
    Glorious now behold Him arise;
    King and God and Sacrifice;
    Alleluia! Alleluia!
    Sounds through the earth and skies.

  • “Give,” Said the Little Stream

    “Give,” Said the Little Stream
    Fanny J. Crosby • William B. Bradbury
    Performed by Choirworks Radio Singers
    Directed by M. Ryan Taylor

    A little stream. A little rain. A simple invitation to give.

    “Give,” Said the Little Stream has been a beloved children’s song in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for generations, where it has appeared in the Children’s Songbook and become part of the musical memory of countless Primary children. But its story reaches well beyond Latter-day Saint culture.

    The words were written by Fanny J. Crosby (1820–1915), one of the most prolific and influential hymn writers in American Christian history. Blind from infancy, Crosby wrote thousands of hymns, gospel songs, and poems, many of which became part of the musical life of Protestant churches and Sunday schools. Her songs include such enduring Christian favorites as “Blessed Assurance,” “To God Be the Glory,” and “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.”

    The music for “Give,” Said the Little Stream” was written by William B. Bradbury (1816–1868), a major figure in 19th-century American church and Sunday-school music. Bradbury’s tunes helped shape the accessible, memorable style of congregational and children’s singing that spread throughout American Christianity.

    The song’s central image is wonderfully simple: the stream gives water, the rain gives life, and even something small can make a difference. The final verse turns that image toward Christian discipleship: there is something all can give.

    That message has made this little song surprisingly enduring—not only among Latter-day Saints, but across the broader Christian hymn tradition. It has appeared in numerous Christian hymnals and collections for children and Sunday schools.

    For Choirworks Radio Singers, this recording is a celebration of a song that many of us first learned as children—and perhaps understand a little differently now that we are grown.

    CHOIRWORKS RADIO SINGERS

    Choirworks Radio Singers is a recording ensemble founded and directed by composer and choral conductor M. Ryan Taylor. Rather than functioning primarily as a concert choir, the ensemble focuses on creating expressive, human-sounding choral recordings of music old and new.

    Featuring:
    M. Ryan Taylor, director
    Amy Carlin
    Lauren Harrison
    Matthew Carlin
    Matt Lees
    Mikayla Batschi
    Taci Miner

    Words: Fanny J. Crosby (1820–1915)
    Music: William B. Bradbury (1816–1868)

    “Give,” Said the Little Stream is part of the musical heritage shared by generations of Christian singers. We hope this recording brings back a memory—and perhaps gives you a new reason to sing it.

    #ChoirworksRadioSingers #GiveSaidTheLittleStream #FannyCrosby #WilliamBradbury #ChoralMusic #LDSMusic #ChildrensSongbook #ChristianMusic #Choir