On an Olde English Carol

Randall Standridge

Traditional English carol, set by Randall Standridge

General Info

Year: 2021
Duration: c. 4:20
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Carol
Publisher: Randall Standridge Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $65.00; (digital) - $65.00   |   Score Only (print) - $12.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe (optional Flute II)
Bassoon
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 I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

• Bass Drum
• Bells
• Chimes
• Finger Cymbals
• Snare Drum
• Suspended Cymbal
• Tambourine
• Tom-Toms
• Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Coventry Carol is one of those rare Christmas carols that is not full of light and hope. It is a dark lullaby, mourning the loss of the children who were put to death as King Herod attempted to find and kill the prophesied King of Israel. I have always found both the tale and the music to be haunting and chilling.

When setting this work, I had a few goals. First, I absolutely refused to use sleigh bells or anything “christmassy” as I felt that would cheapen the emotional impact of this terrible tale. Second, I wanted to create a Christmas work that used very reserved orchestration to allow beautiful instrumental colors to shine through and to create a sense of isolation and tension, and allow the work to function in a festival/contest setting as well as a holiday concert. Lastly, I wished to create a work that would serve as an alternative to the typical “joyous” fare.

On an Olde English Carol is a setting of this beautiful, melancholy melody. The work begins with the voices of the mourners singing the souls of their children to sleep (“Lully, Lullah, Lully, Lullay”). The carol is then heard in various choirs. The grief of the parents culminates in a powerful statement at the climax of their work, before returning to a quiet whisper, though the work ends on a slight ray of hope that crescendos to the final release.

I hope you enjoy this work and find it suitable for both holiday concerts and festival performances.

- Program Note by composer

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Wisconsin Lutheran College (Milwaukee) Concert Band (Olivia Gerbing, conductor) - 9 December 2022
• Bluewater Wind Ensemble (Sarnia, Ont., Can.) (Charles Dalmas, conductor) - 24 November 2022
• Central Florida (Orlando) Sounds of Freedom Band and Guard (Chris Green, conductor) – Winter 2021

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

• Aggressivo (Flex instrumentation) (2013/2020)
• Alarm (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
• Beginners Rock! (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Circuit Breaker (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Dark Ride (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• Darklands March (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
• Deus Ex Machina (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• The Dragon Lord (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Earthdawn (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
• Fanfare for the 16th Empire (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• A Festival of Carols (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Groovy-8 (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Havana Nights (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• Hillside March (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Kinetic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)
• The Lake of Sorrows (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Mechanical Monsters (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Metrodance (Reduced instrumentation) (2012/2021)
• Pacifica (Reduced instrumentation) (2019/2021)
• Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020)
• Shadow Cove March (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Siege (Reduced instrumentation) (2020/2021)
• Snake Charmer (Flex instrumentation) (2009/2020)
• Spero (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Starfire Fanfare (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Vanishing Point (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

All Wind Works

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• Affirmation (2021)
• Afterburn (2009)
• Aggressivo (2013)
• Aggressivo (Flex instrumentation) (2013/2020)
• Alarm (2019)
• Alarm (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
• Angelic Celebrations (2014)
• Argentum (2015)
• Armory (2015)
• Art(isms)
  • Pointallism
  • Surrealism
  • Abstract Expressionism
• Battlesong (2012)
• Bazaar (2017)
• Bees. See: The Garden Suite
• Beginners Rock! (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• The Black Cat (2021)
• Blue Sky Horizon (2022)
• The Boom Boom Galop (2017)
• Brave Spirit (2015)
• Brighton Camp March (2012)
• Buffalo Island March
• C-141 Starlifter (2015)
• A Carmen Christmas (as arranger) (2015)
• Celebration (2016)
• Celebration Tribalesque (2011)
• Celebrations for Christmas (as arranger) (2020)
• Cha'la (2018)
• Choose Joy (2022)
• A Christmas Bell Carol (as arranger) (2018)
• A Christmas Carol (2022)
• A Christmas Fanfare (2011)
• A Christmas Flourish (2017)
• A Christmas Gathering (2022)
• A Christmas Tale (2016)
• Christmas Village (2021)
• Christmas at the Circus (as arranger) (2014)
• Circuit Breaker (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• The Clapping Song (2022)
• Columbia (2022)
• Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (2014)
• Companion of My Voice (2015)
• Creer (2021)
• Dancing Lights (2020)
• Danse Bohémien (2010)
• Danse Carnivale (2013)
• Dark Ride (2018)
• Dark Ride (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• Darklands Symphony
  • Darklands March (2014)
  • Darklands March (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
  • Darklands Legends (2017)
  • DarkHeart (2016)
• Daybreak March
• Deus Ex Machina (2019)
• Deus Ex Machina (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
• Dominion (2021)
• The Dragon Lord (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Earthdawn (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
• El Zorro Rojo (2019)
• Extremis (2015)
• Fanfare for the 16th Empire (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Fantasia on a Theme of Camille Saint Saens (2022)
• A Festival of Carols (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Fiat Lux (2021)
• Fields of Clover (2000/2005)
• Flowers. See: The Garden Suite
• Folk Suite for Beginning Band
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• Four (2017)
• Fragile (2022)
• Frogs. See: The Garden Suite
• Gadget (2012)
• Galactic Fanfare (2018)
• Gallowglass (2021)
• The Garden Suite (2018-2020)
  • Frogs (2018)
  • March of the Arachnids (2019)
  • Flowers (2020)
  • Bees (2020)
• Gently Blows the Summer Wind (2008)
• Gestures (2019)
• A Ghost Story. See: Symphony No. 1
• Grace (2007)
• Groovy-8 (2021)
• Groovy-8 (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Half-Past One
• Half-Past Two (2016)
• Havana Nights (2020)
• Havana Nights (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• Her Majesty's Brigade (2011)
• High Voltage (2017)
• Hillside March (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• A Holiday Galop (as arranger) (2013)
• Imaginarium (2015)
• Impact (2018)
• In Endless Song (2014)
• In Late November (2009)
• In Paths of Truth and Grace (2015)
• In Quiet Hours (2019)
• In Simple Faith (as arranger) (2018)
• In These Last Days of Autumn (2016)
• In the Court of the King (2013)
• Iron and Ice (2017)
• IronHeart (2014)
• The Joyful Rose of Winter (as arranger) (2018)
• A Joyous Christmas (2015)
• Kinetic Dances (2015)
• Kinetic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)
• The Lake of Sorrows. See: Tales from the Darklands
• Legacy Overture (2019)
• Life's Railway (2018)
• Little Suite for Band (2014)
• Lullabye (Waltz for Band) (2009)
• Lux Spiritus (2018)
• A Maid of Bedlam (as arranger) (2020)
• March of the Arachnids. See: The Garden Suite
• March of the Winter Elves (2016)
• March Wunderbar (2022)
• Marzo Zingaro (2017)
• Mechanical Monsters (2021)
• Mechanical Monsters (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Metalheads (2016)
• Metrodance (2012)
• Metrodance (Reduced instrumentation) (2012/2021)
• Morpheus (2016)
• Nebula (2021)
• New Era Fanfare (2013)
• The Nine (2018)
• (Not) Alone (2022)
• Ode to Joy
• Of Monsters and Men (2019)
• On a Catalonian Carol (as arranger) (2016)
• On an Olde English Carol (as arranger) (2021)
• Pacifica (2019)
• Pacifica (Reduced instrumentation) (2019/2021)
• Pandora (2007)
• The Photo Album (2020)
• Portent (2008)
• A Prayer Before Nightfall
• Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020)
• Providence (2021)
• Pulse (2014)
• Rage (2011)
• The Rains of Scarborough Fair (as arranger) (2017)
• Relentless (2016)
• Ridge Spirit Fanfare
• A Rollicking Hannukah (2018)
• The Rowan Tree (as arranger) (2010)
• Ruckus (2014)
• Santa the Barbarian (2021)
• Shadow Cove March (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Siege (2020)
• Siege (Reduced instrumentation) (2020/2021)
• Skygazer Fanfare (2015)
• Snake Charmer (2009)
• Snake Charmer (Flex instrumentation) (2009/2020)
• Snow Angels (2014/2017)
• The Soft-Shoe Rag (2012)
• Spero (2021)
• Spero (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Spring (2021)
• Starfire Fanfare (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Steel (2011)
• Still, Still, Still (as arranger) (2011)
• Stonewall: 1969 (2019)
• Sultana: 1865 (2020)
• Summer Song (2016)
• Symphony No. 1
• Taiko (2020)
• Tales from the Darklands
  • The Lake of Sorrows (2021)
  • The Lake of Sorrows (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
• Taiko (2020)
• Tanchōzuru (2016)
• That Old Hound Dog Rag (2009)
• Thrash (2019)
• Tiger: The Shadow Hunter (2018)
• Timepiece (2015)
• To Horizons Unseen (2019)
• Tomorrow's Celebration (2013)
• Too Much Percussion!
• Towercrest March
• unBroken (2021)
• Undecim (2015)
• Under the Cherry Blossoms (2018)
• Union Street March
• Utopia (2021)
• Vanishing Point (2019)
• Vanishing Point (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Venom (2017)
• Victory Parade March
• Warriors of the 16th Empire (2022)
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• The Western Journey (2020)
• When Summer's in the Meadow (as arranger) (2019)
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• A Yuletide Festival (2012)
• Zooveniers (2011)

Resources

• Perusal score
• Randall Standridge website Accessed 23 November 2022