O Holy Night
Adolphe Adam (arr. Calvin Custer)
General Info
Year: 1847 / 1994
Duration: c. 5:50
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $82.00; (digital) - $70.00 | Score Only (print) - $8.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II-III
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 I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Crash Cymbals
- Ride Cymbal
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
O Holy Night ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem Minuit, chrétiens (Midnight, Christians) by a wine merchant and poet, Placide Cappeau (1808–1877).
In Roquemaure at the end of the year 1843, the church organ was recently renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest asked Cappeau, native from this town, to write a Christmas poem. Cappeau did it, although being a professed anticlerical and atheist. Soon after, Adam wrote the music. The song was premiered in Roquemaure in 1847 by the opera singer Emily Laurey.
Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of humanity's redemption.
- Program Note from Wikipedia
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Andrews University (Berrien Springs, Mich.) Wind Symphony (Byron Graves, conductor) - 4 December 2021
- Gateway Concert Band (Enumclaw, Wash.) (Jack Prindle, conductor) – 16 December 2018
- Arkansas Winds Community Concert Band (Fayetteville) (Michael Ferguson, conductor) – 11 December 2017
- Atascadero (Calif.) Community Band (Keith Waibel, conductor) – 11 December 2016
- Contra Costa (Calif.) Wind Symphony (Brad Hogarth, conductor) – 7 December 2015
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, Ind.) Concert Band (Julie Dugger, conductor) – December 2013
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Cantique de Noel (arr. Davis)
- Giselle
- Holy Night, Silent Night (arr. Jones) (1847/2014)
- If I were King (arr. Laurendeau) (1852/1900)
- O Holy Night (arr. Custer) (1847/1994)
- O Holy Night (arr. Giroux) (1847/2011)
- O Holy Night (arr. Miller) (1847/2005)
- Queen for a Day
Resources
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Adolphe Adam." Accessed 28 November 2015
- O Holy Night, Wikipedia.