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At the Feast of Stephen

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Scott Watson

Scott Watson


Subtitle: Featuring Good King Wenceslas


General Info

Year: 2008
Duration: c. 2:30
Difficulty: I (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Carol
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $52.00   |   Score Only (print) - $6.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone/Euphonium/Bassoon
Tuba
Percussion I-II, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Bring some energy to the concert hall this holiday season with a novel setting of the traditional carol. Up-tempo and upbeat, the Good King never sounded so lively.

- Program Note from publisher


The old carol tells the story of a legendary 10th-century monarch, Duke Wenceslas of Bohemia, to went out in the severe cold to give charity to the poor on December 26, also known as St. Stephen's Day. The well-known 13th-centiry carol tune, as well as additional original material in period style, vividly conjures a lively celebration of Christmas in the high Middle Ages.

Come now ye lords and ladies to the Feast of Stephen and upon your instruments faire make most merry this Yule-tide!

- Program Note from score


Good King Wenceslas is a popular Christmas carol that tells a story of a king going on a journey in braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen (December 26, the day after Christmas). During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the historical Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia or Svatý Václav in Czech (907–935).

In 1853, English hymnwriter John Mason Neale wrote the "Wenceslas" lyrics, in collaboration with his music editor Thomas Helmore, and the carol first appeared in Carols for Christmas-Tide, 1853. Neale's lyrics were set to the melody of a 13th-century spring carol Tempus adest floridum ("The time is near for flowering") first published in the 1582 Finnish song collection Piae Cantiones.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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