Review

Various
Christmas Classics Suite:

Arranged by Jerald R. Juhnke

Brass Quintet: 2 B-flat trumpets, F horn, trombone, tuba

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2021
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts.

Primary Genre: Brass Ensemble - 5 brass

Joy To The World (Handel), Good Christians All Rejoice (In Dulci Jubilo) (Traditional German),  Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian), What Child is This (Old English),  Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head (Traditional Appalachian), Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen (sic) (Traditional English), Still, Still, Still (Austrian Melody), Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn).

This set of familiar carols is “suitable for advanced performers”- they may be played as a complete suite or individually. The group is well-contrasted, five in major keys and two in minor. The Suite begins in D major, with first trumpet leading in a short introduction to Joy to the World, followed in turn by  variations and a reprise of the main melody, now in E-flat. First trumpet again takes the lead in the second selection, In Dulci Jubilo, beginning in F with variations going into G.

 Carol of the Bells is based on a Ukrainian New Year’s carol, Schedryck. It was arranged in its present form in 1916 by Mykola Leontovych (1877-1921), and in 1936 as an English Christmas Carol by American composer Peter J. Wilhousky (1902-1978). This arrangement is in A minor. The melody is introduced by solo trombone, soon joined by the other parts. At m145, second trumpet and horn play What Child is This? as a counterpoint to Carol of the Bells, which continues with the melody in the trombone part.

Horn leads in the fourth selection, which is in F, and trumpets in the fifth, the correct title of which is ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.’ The first section is in E minor, but given with the key signature of A minor, resulting in more accidentals than should be needed, including double sharps in the horn part. A solo trombone has the melody in the third section, which is in F-sharp minor. Both trumpets play elaborate variations in the final section in G minor, first topping out several times at c³. Solo trombone takes the lead in the first section of Still, Still, Still. After an elaborate introduction played mostly by the trumpets, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, with trombones in quite elaborate supporting roles, brings the Suite to a fortissimo conclusion with a chord of F major spread over three octaves.

All selections are imaginatively scored and all players have interesting parts and adequate measures of rest. The trombone part is given in bass clef, and tops out at b-flat¹. Trumpets are in b-flat, first going up to d³. Jerry Juhnke is a bass trombonist and arranger in Wichita, Kansas and leader of the 10-member SuperBones.