Christmas Fanfare, incorporating ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’ for choirs and orchestra

Are you looking for an opener for your Christmas concert or service, which uses a range of choirs, with orchestral accompaniment? “Christmas Fanfare: Rejoice!” was written for the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, and performed at their four Christmas concerts last year in Symphony Hall, Birmingham. As a number of youth choirs and a community chorus were taking part in these concerts, they were all involved individually and jointly in the piece, which was built around the Advent hymn, ‘O come, O come, Emmanuel’.

Following the opening fanfare, the first verse is sung by a child soloist, lightly accompanied by flute and harp. Each successive verse is set for different choral resources, including children’s choir, men’s voices (TTBB) and women’s voices (SSA) and community chorus. Following a return of the fanfare theme, there is a big build up to the final verse, which includes organ (ad lib), leading to a triumphant ‘Rejoice!’, repeated three times by all the choral forces. The piece can be used flexibly, according to forces available – even omitting the fanfare sections if no brass players are available.

Choral score, full score and instrumental parts are available here, either in printed form or as a digital download from SwirlyMusic.org, where you can also look through the score and hear the piece.