Three Christmas Carols / for solo guitar

“Silent Night" is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. 

In December 2023, I arranged it for solo guitar in the "campanella" style, where as many notes as possible, including the melody, “let ring” in the given harmony. It means allowing the guitar strings to vibrate freely without muting them. It's like using a sustain pedal on a piano, where the notes continue to sound. This technique creates a sustained and resonant effect in the music. In addition, there are no bass tones here, with the exception of the 1st beat, but after it, so it creates a better "flow" overall. The flagoletes used for this, which resemble bells, enhance the Christmas impression even more.

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The well-known Czech folk carol How Beautiful You Are, Baby Jesus  was arranged by me for Christmas 2023. It consists of two parts, the first in the key of C major uses the moving bass, which is so typical of folk music and it requires a certain technical skill from the guitarist. Using modulation, we smoothly reach the second part, which is in the key of D major and is very different from the first. It is more modern and contains a richer harmony thanks to the second voice.

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"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and most commonly sung American songs in the world. It was written in 1850 by James Lord Pierpont(1822–1893) at Simpson Tavern in Medford, Massachusetts. It was published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed that it was originally written to be sung by a Sunday scholl choir for Thanksgiving, or as a drinking song. Although it has no original connection to Christmas, it became associated with winter and Christmas music in the 1860s and 1870s, and it was featured in a variety of parlor song and college anthologies in the 1880s. It was first recorded in 1889 on an Edison cylinder; this recording, believed to be the first Christmas record, is lost, but an 1898 recording also from Edison Records survives. 

"I created this arrangement in 2023 before Christmas when, as a guitar teacher, I wanted a more interesting and fun version of this well-known song for my students. See for yourselves :-) "

Silent Night - Flipbook preview with audio

How Beatiful You Are, Baby Jesus - Flipbook preview with audio MIDI

Jingle Bells - Flipbook preview with audio MIDI