Away in a Manger

Julie Giroux

General Info

Year: 2011
Duration: c. 5:00
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Music Propria
Cost: Score and Parts - $65.00 | Score Only - $17.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Suspended Cymbal

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Over the years I have done many arrangements of this Christmas song, but I always kept it on the upbeat, cheerier side. Dennis Fisher, conductor of University of North Texas Symphonic Band, asked me to do a pretty arrangement o it, so I obliged him. The original song has no chorus and uses only three chords, which meant to me that there was going to be an awful lot of composition going into this arrangement. I tried to make it as beautiful ad poignant as the lyrics, and I added a small chorus section.

We hear two full verses, with the first rising to a minor conclusion and the second pushing upwards to a major one. I will admit it made me cry several times while working on it, which I knew it would.

A newborn baby in a manger asleep on the hay--how can that not pull on your heart strings?
I am very happy with the final outcome, but I told Dennis he doesn’t get to make any more
requests unless the original song has at least five chords in it.

-Program Note by arranger

Away in a Manger is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. The two most common musical settings are by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and James R. Murray (1887).

The earliest known publication, in The Myrtle in 1884, ascribed the lyrics to German Protestant reformer Martin Luther, explicitly referencing his 400th birthday (which was in 1883). For many years this attribution continued to be made. However, this attribution appears to be false: the hymn is found nowhere among Luther's works. It has been suggested that the words were written specifically for Luther's 400th anniversary and then credited to the reformer as a marketing gimmick.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Media

Audio CD: University of North Texas Symphonic Band (Dennis Fisher, conductor) - 2012

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Dallas (Tx.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor) - 22 December 2021
Indiana Wind Symphony (Mooresville, Ind.) (Charles P. Conrad, conductor) - 15 December 2021
San Jose (Calif.) Wind Symphony (Edward Harris, conductor) - 14 December 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

The Bonsai Tree (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1739/2020)
I'll Be Home A-fore Ye (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2020)
Market Bridge (Flex instrumentation) (2013/2020)
One Life Beautiful (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
Opa! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
Our Cast Aways (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
A Time to Dance (2006) (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)

All Wind Works

Across the Isle of Skye
Af-free-kah! (2013)
All Good Things (2003)
All Through the Night (as arranger) (2011)
Always (2019)
Amaranthine (2008)
Appalachian Portrait (2017)
Arcus IX
The Ash Grove (2019)
Autumn Rose (2017)
Away in a Manger (as arranger) (2011)
Before the Sun (2013)
Beyond Measure (2023)
Beyond the Gates (2022)
The Bench by the Sea (2017)
The Blue Marble (2022)
The Bonsai Tree (2010)
Bookmarks from Japan (2013)
Boston Liberties (2003)
Burning the Wickerman (2020)
Carnaval! (2013)
Celestial Seas (2014)
Chanukkah, Oh Chanukkah (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Chorale for Wind Band and Melodic Percussion (as arranger) (2015)
Christmas and Sousa Forever (as arranger) (2010)
Christmas Toons (2012)
Christmas with Mozart (2007)
Circus Franticus (2001)
Córdoba (2013)
Crown of Thorns (1998)
Culloden (2000)
- Culloden I and II
- Culloden III
Dragon Sky (2015)
Dream Dancer (2005)
The Elements. See: Symphony No. 5
Empire (2006)
An Epic Fanfare. See: Three Fanfares
Fantasy in French (2012)
Fields of Gold (2019)
The First Noel (as arranger)
Fort McHenry Suite (2000)
Freedom Rising (2017)
Glenbury Grove (2009)
Glorious Light (2019)
Godspeed (2023)
The Grace in Being (2013)
The Greatest Generation (2002)
Hands of Mercy (2001)
HardDrive (2010)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1739/2020)
Hark! Those Bells Are Smokin’ (2011)
The Hearthstone (2016)
Husaria Cavalry Overture (2006)
Hymn for the Innocent (2016)
I Got Rhythm for Christmas (2012)
Il Burlone (2000)
I'll Be Home A'fore Ye (2006)
I'll Be Home A-fore Ye (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2020)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (as arranger) (1943/)
Imbizo (2007)
Impressions (2013)
In My Father's Eyes (2017)
In the Bleak Midwinter (as arranger) (1906/2018)
Incantations (2019)
Integrity Fanfare and March
Italian Rhapsody (2005)
Jerusalem (as arranger)
Jingle Them Bells (as arranger) (1857/2011)
Journey Through Orion (2006)
Just Flyin'! (2015)
K2 (2012)
Kalanu (2002)
Khan (2008)
La Mezquita de Córdoba (2005)
Legacy (2011)
Let Your Spirit Sing (2003)
The Little Drummer Boy's Bolero
Louisiana Parish Sketches (2001)
Mambo Perro Loco (2008)
March of the Sun Dried Tomatoes (2000)
Market Bridge (Flex instrumentation) (2013/2020)
Medalist Fanfare (2013)
Mile High (2023)
Moonshine. See: Shine
Movin' on Down the Line (2009)
My Soul to Keep (2019)
Mystery on Mena Mountain (1985)
Mythic (2021)
The Nature of the Beast (2001)
Nearer, My God, To Thee (as arranger) (2010)
Nihonbashi. See: Market Bridge
No Finer Calling (2006)
No Man's Land (2017)
Nothing That Is (2000)
Nutcracker Fantasia (as arranger) (1891/2012)
O Holy Night (arr. Giroux) (1847/2011)
Of Blood and Stone (2015)
Of Silence and Sparrows (2022)
One Life Beautiful (2010)
One Life Beautiful (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
One Torch, Two Women, Three Ships and Men Rejoicing (2011)
Opa! (2018)
Ouachita (1987)
Our Cast Aways (2018)
Our Cast Aways (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
Outlander (2010)
Overture in Five Flat (2010)
Paprikash (2014)
Peter Patapan (2011)
Poseidon (2010)
Primality 2006)
Prisoner of the Ring (1986)
Radiant Shadows (2016)
Rain Softly on Me (2022)
The Red Baron Drummer
Riften Wed (2013)
River Shannon (2020)
Shadow Falls (2013)
Shine (2017)
Silent Night in Gotham (as arranger) (1818/2009)
Space Symphony (1986/1991)
The Speed of Heat (2010)
Stealing Home (2016)
A Stocking Full of Composers (2009)
Strathcona Suite (2012)
Sun Catcher (2022)
Swashbuckler (2010)
Symphony No. 1. See: Culloden
Symphony No. 2. See: A Symphony of Fables
Symphony No. 3. See: No Finer Calling
Symphony No. 4. See: Bookmarks from Japan
Symphony No. 5 (2017)
Symphony No. 6. see: The Blue Marble
A Symphony of Fables (2006)
Taboo for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble
Three Fanfares (2003)
Three Wise Guys (2011)
Tiger Tail March (2000)
A Time to Dance (2006)
To Walk with Wings (2000)
Trillium
The Twelve Days of Christmas (2012)
The Twelve Gallon Hat (2013)
Under the Influence (2022)
Under the Willow (2015)
A Very Merry Heart and Soul
Vigils Keep (2005)
Vortex (2015)
Wagon Trail (2003)
West Wind Overture (2012)
What Child Is That Playing Carol of the Bells? (as arranger) (2011)
What Goes in the Night (2000)
When Country Comes to Town (2008)
Where the Red Fern Grows (2016)
Wild West Overture
Winter from "The Four Seasons" (as arranger) (1725/)
Without You
Wolves in Moonlight (2019)
Zephyr, Chorale and Dance (2012)

Resources

Away in a Manger. Wikipedia Accessed 25 December 2015
[www.musicapropria.com/musicpages/listen/manger_scr_play.html Perusal score]