- On Christmas Day in the Morning on Choirworks
- Also available on J.W. Pepper, Sheet Music Plus & Sheet Music Direct
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.
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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.
Share Your Performance
I would love to hear your choir perform this piece! Please consider sending me a recording, photos, a copy of your program, or a link to your performance at ryan@choirworks.com.
With your permission, I may share selected recordings, photos, or performance information through Choirworks’ website and social media to help introduce your ensemble to other singers and conductors—and to help other choirs discover this piece. Thank you for giving this work a life beyond the page!