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Selection: Jolly Old St. Nicholaus (Traditional, arr. Philip Neuman)

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A Pioneer Brass Christmas

Selected Liner Notes
by Philip Newman, arranger

JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAUS [CURRENT SELECTION](Traditional)
This arrangement of the carol is written for a sextet of brass instruments pitched an octave higher than our usual complement: two piccolo trumpets, descant horn, sprano trombone, alto horn, and euphonium.

JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAUS (alphorns) (Traditional)
Our alternative version, a tribute to Johann Pachelbel, is played on six alphorns. The melody is shared by Lawrence Johnson playing the 12-foot alphorn in F and Andrew Harris on the 19-foot alphorn in BB-flat. The other alphorns are two high-pitched horns in C and B-flat, another 12-foot F, and "Big Al," the 25-foot horn in FF.

DECK THE HALLS (Traditional Welsh)
Here is a set of three variations on the "Deck" theme, the third of which divides the melody and accompaniment into smaller, faster note values in the old Renaissance form of ornamentation called diminutions or divisions.

JINGLE BELLS (James Pierpont)
This arrangement is based on the original version for voice and piano published in 1857 entitled "The One Horse Open Sleigh" that sold for 25 cents a copy. The tune soon became so popular with its chorus, "Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way," that it was reissued in 1859 as "Jingle Bells or The One Horse Open Sleigh" for 30 cents a copy. It is interesting to note how much the melody to the chorus has changed. The chorus' jingling bell effect, written originally for the piano in the right hand, is played by Andrew Harris on the euphonium.

UP ON THE HOUSETOP (Traditional)
This is a tone poem depicting the night one might experience after an office Christmas party. While drifting off to sleep, one hears the typical sounds of the evening: cars and their horns, trucks with air brakes, a disgruntled pedestrian, church bells, a distant radio playing "The Christmas Song," and peacocks. (I used to live near an exotic bird farm.) A dream featuring "Up on the Housetop" follows: nightmarish goblins and other bizarre figments of the imagination try to attack the tune, but it continues unaffected. Finally, a group of elves join with the tune in a furious dance. The dreamer is finally awakened by the sound of Santa Claus and his reindeer on the roof.

A Pioneer Brass Christmas