Ding! Dong! Merrily on High
Traditional French carol arranged by James D Ployhar
Subtitle: French carol
General Info
Year: 1987
Duration: c. 2:10
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $70.00; (digital) - $70.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass 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
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
This tuneful French Christmas carol has retained popularity from year to year. This charming arrangement captures the melodic excitement that makes this theme so popular with carolers each holiday season. Chimes play a prominent part in this setting along with chime-like effects in the woodwinds and brass.
- Program Note from publisher
Ding Dong Merrily on High is a Christmas carol. The tune first appeared as a secular dance tune known under the title Branle de l'Official in Orchésographie, a dance book written by Jehan Tabourot (1519–1593). The lyrics are from English composer George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848–1934), and the carol was first published in 1924 in his The Cambridge Carol-Book. Woodward took an interest in church bell ringing, which no doubt aided him in writing it. The macaronic style is characteristic of Woodward’s delight in archaic poetry. Charles Wood harmonized the tune when it was published. More recently, Sir David Willcocks made an arrangement for the second book of Carols for Choirs.
The song is particularly noted for the Latin refrain:
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!
[Glory! Hosanna in the highest!]
where the sung vowel sound "o" of "Gloria" is fluidly sustained through a lengthy rising and falling melismatic melodic sequence.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Keith Waibel, conductor) – 11 December 2016
- Dover (Ohio) High School Concert Band – 2016
Works for Winds by This Composer
- American Patrol (as arranger) (1891/2005)
- Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair (as arranger) (1963)
- Blue Tango (arr Ployhar) (as arranger)
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (as arranger) (1941/1975)
- Burtonwood Overture
- Caravan (as arranger) (1937/1975)
- Castlebay Overture
- Castle, Loch, and Heath (as arranger) (1983)
- Chiapanecas (as arranger)
- Christmas Sing-a-Long (as arranger)
- Christmas "Pop" Sing-a-Long (as arranger)
- The Civil War (as arranger) (1991)
- Clarinets on the Run (1986)
- Concerto for Faculty and Band (1972)
- Cool Blues for Trumpets
- Crazy Clock
- Crusader's Hymn (as arranger) (1997)
- Deep River (as arranger) (1959)
- Devonshire Overture
- Ding! Dong! Merrily on High (as arranger) (1987)
- Fantasy on Joy to the World
- Fantasy on "The Marine's Hymn" (as arranger) (1994)
- Flight of the Flutes (2007)
- He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (as arranger) (1973)
- A Holly Jolly Christmas (as arranger) (1997)
- The Hundred Pipers (as arranger) (c. 1852/1973/1988)
- Impressions of a Scottish Air (1957)
- Jingle Bells in Dixie (as arranger) (1857/1989)
- Korean Folk Song Melody
- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! (as arranger) (1945/1998)
- March of the Irish Guard (as arranger) (1989)
- Morning Has Broken (1931/1977)
- A Nation's Prayer (as arranger) (2006)
- Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen (as arranger) (1956)
- An Old English Christmas (1958)
- Patriotic Sing-a-Long (as arranger) (1976)
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger (as arranger) (1957/1960)
- Salute to the Patriots (1999)
- Santa Meets the Big Bands (2005)
- Simple Gifts (arr Ployhar) (as arranger) (1968)
- Sing for America (as arranger) (1998)
- Sleigh Ride (as arranger) (1948/1980)
- Songs of a New Nation
- Still, Still, Still (as arranger) (1988)
- Sunderland Overture
- Swingin' into Christmas (2002)
- Swingin' Old Saint Nick (as arranger) (1867/1998)
- Theme from "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" (as arranger)
- Travelin' Trumpets (2006)
- Tunbridge Overture
- Vaudeville Favorites (as arranger) (1969)
- Vikingland (as arranger) (1986)
Resources
- Ding Dong Merrily on High, Wikipedia Accessed 26 November 2016*Broughton, B. (1987). Tuba Concerto [score]. Kamlus: Miami, Fla.
- Ployhar, J. (1987). Ding! Dong! Merrily On High : French Carol [score]. Belwin Mills: Miami, Fla.