Sussex Carol (Traditional)

The Sussex Carol is a popular English Christmas carol that is sometimes referred to by its first line ‘On Christmas night all Christians sing.’

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 2 | Duration: 2:25

Instrumentation
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone*
Tenor Saxophone*
Baritone Saxophone*

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
Trombone
Euphonium/Bassoon
Baritone T.C.
Tuba
Piano*

Timpani
Percussion 1 (Snare Drums)
Percussion 2 (Tenor Drums)
Percussion 3 (Glockenspiel 1)
Percussion 4 (Glockenspiel 2)

*Parts marked with an asterisk (*) are NOT ESSENTIAL, although their presence will obviously enable a fuller realization of the composer's intention to be achieved.

Program Notes
The Sussex Carol is a popular English carol, sometimes referred to by its first line ‘On Christmas night all Christians sing’. It was first published by Luke Wadding, a 17th-century Irish bishop, in a work called ‘Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs.’ Cecil Sharp and Ralph Vaughan Williams heard it being sung by a Harriet Verrall of Monk's Gate, near Horsham, Sussex, England when they were collecting Folk songs and thereafter it became known as ‘the Sussex Carol.