The Santa Express is available for various combinations. Originally written for 6 saxophones (AAAATB or AAATTB) it is now also available for Saxophone Octet, 2 Altos and Piano as well as for full orchestra, Wind Band, Flute and Piano, and Piano Duet. This is a light-hearted piece in the Christmas spirit! It starts with the instrumentalist "huffing" into their instrument to acheive a steam locomotive sound - very effective when done well - very dangerous with youngsters, but you can always miss the first 8 bars!

The Santa Express (Saxophone Sextet) - Alun Cook	listen to mp3	Moderate
The Santa Express (Saxophone Octet) - Alun Cook	listen to mp3	Moderate
The Santa Express (2 Altos and Piano) - Alun Cook	listen to mp3	Moderate

Ding Dong Merrily on High This arrangement of the traditional carol gives a less traditional slant to the harmonies. It may be played as a concert piece or with singers, but verse 3 should be purely instrumental. Intended for AATB, an alternative soprano part is provided.

Ding Dong Merrily on High - Trad

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Moderate

God Rest You Merry Gentlemen - My favourite Christmas arrangement for Saxophones! It covers a range of styles from a heavy gutsy start, to lyricism and delicacy in the various verses. It can be played as a concert piece or as an accompaniment for a congregational carol. It works well with doubled parts the more the merrier - but care must be used to maintain the balance all the parts are so enjoyable to play it is easy to get carried away!

God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen - Trad

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Moderate

Personent Hodie - Fantasia (Saxophone Quartet). - This Christmas Carol is based on an old German melody made popular by Gustav Holst. It has a strong driving melody and is usually sung by the men of a choir. This arrangement uses the melody quite loosely and exploits its ambiguous rhythmic feel. A soprano part is available although its range necessitates some compromises. If you would a like a shorter version (or wish to avoid the Fugue), a judicious cut may be made from the last beat of the bar before letter G to the upbeat to letter J.

Personent Hodie - Trad

Moderate

For Unto Us a Child is Born from "The Messiah" is frequently performed at Christmas, and this arrangement is fun to play and not too difficult, although Alto 1 needs to be a bit nifty around the high notes. This arrangement is best suited to AATB but I've included a Soprano part in case you want to play SATB but if you do, you also need the SATB 2nd Alto part instead of the original Alto 2 part.

For Unto Us a Child is Born - Handel

Moderate

The Huron Carol (Quintet AAATB or AATTB) has one of the most beautiful and simple melodies I know and I just had to do something with it for saxophones. The result has a slightly "rocky" feel and is not an accompaniment for choir, just incidental music for the season, and would work particularly well in a resonant acoustic. The 3rd Alto part is an alternative for 1st Tenor and needs a strong player.

Huron Carol - Canadian Trad.

Moderate

A Winter's Tale (Christmas Lullaby) (3 Bb Cls, 2 Alto Sax and Bs Cl) - Soothing music to lull your children to sleep, but like all good stories there are moments of intrigue and suspense. This is the original scoring for 3 Bb Clarinets, 2 Alto Saxophones and Bass Clarinet although I have it in mind to add words as a Christmas carol. The individual parts are not hard but they are quite independent at times. Listen to the MP3 to hear a performance. Also available for Wind Band.

A Winter's Tale - Alun Cook (Christmas Lullaby)

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Moderate

Dasher and Dancer (5Bb and BsCl) - A light hearted piece in a Christmas mood. Written for 5 clarinets and Bass Clarinet the parts get easier as you go down the list. Parts 1,2,3 are about grade 5-6 standard, with part 4 being for grade 4 players and part 5 almost entirely lower register. This was written so that all my pupils in one school could join in, no matter what their standard, with the lower parts being doubled up. There is also a part for Jingles which adds a festive touch.

Dasher and Dancer - Alun Cook

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Moderate

Fanfare to O Come! All Ye Faithful - This Fanfare may be played either as an introduction to "O Come, All Ye Faithful" or as an interlude before the final verse. It is scored for 3 Trumpets, 4 Horns (although 2 will do) 3 Trombones, Tuba and optional Euphonium. Timpani and Cymbals parts are included although not essential. There is also a Wind Band version of the complete carol (including a new descant) and the Fanfare is identical, so if you are buying that, you don't need to buy this!

Fanfare to "O Come, All Ye Faithful" - Alun Cook

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Moderate/Hard

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - with Fanfare and Descant. This version includes a Fanfare and new descant. Verses 1 and 2 may be sung in traditional (Mendelssohn's) four part harmony. These harmonies will fit even though the brass parts are developed. The final verse should be sung in unison with the optional descant part (provided). The Fanfare may be played at the start of the piece, or before the final verse, in which case use the last 2 bars of verse 1 as an introduction. Scored for 3 Trumpets, 4 Horns, 3 Trombones, Euphonium, Tuba and Percussion, the percussion parts are entirely optional, just written for percussionists who are desperate to join in. The Euphonium part is optional, as are the 3rd and 4th Horn parts, although it would be sad to lose the Horns! This arrangement may also be played as an instrumental without choir. A version for Brass Quintet is also available.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Mendelssohn/Cook

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Moderate/Hard

O Come! All Ye Faithful with Fanfare and Descant - This version includes a Fanfare which may be played either as an introduction or as an interlude before the final verse, and 4 different harmonised verses including an original descant. Optional Timpani and Cymbals parts are included. There are two MP3 files here, one with the optional percussion and one without.

O Come, All Ye Faithful with Fanfare - Alun Cook

mp3 with Perc. mp3 Brass only

Moderate/Hard

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, with Fanfare and Descant - This version includes a Fanfare which may be played either as an introduction or as an interlude before the final verse. The first two verses may be sung with the traditional Mendelssohn harmonies, and the final verse sung in unison with a new descant. Optional Timpani and Cymbals parts are included.

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing - Mendelssohn/Cook

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Moderate/Hard

The Shepherds' Farewell - Instrumental. - The Shepherds' Farewell (L'adieu des bergers) from L'Enfance du Christ has become a standard for choirs at Christmas. This version has been written as an instrumental performed without a choir. The key has been changed to enable more variety in the scoring for brass. If you like a version for performance WITH a choir, see below.

The Shepherds' Farewell - Berlioz

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Moderate/Hard

The Shepherds' Farewell - for performance with choir. - The Shepherds' Farewell (L'adieu des bergers) from L'Enfance du Christ has become a standard for choirs at Christmas. This version has been written for performing as accompaniment to a choir. The key is a semitone lower than the original to save the trumpets from playing in F# major. If you would like a better version for performing as an instrumental without a choir, see the version above.

The Shepherds' Farewell - Berlioz

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Moderate/Hard

The Santa Express - At Christmas in the depths of the English countryside on the Kent and Sussex border, steam railways run Santa Specials as a Christmas treat for young and old alike. My original score was for saxophones, but its popularity has led me to scores it for orchestra and now for Wind Band. The score is not too demanding and Piccolo, Cor Anglais, Eb Clarinet, Alto Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Horns 3 and 4 and Harp may be omitted.

The Santa Express - Alun Cook

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Moderate

Dasher and Dancer - A light hearted piece in a Christmas mood. Originally written for a clarinet ensemble, its popularity has led to this arrangement for full band. It is very busy for the woodwind players but not actually too difficult. Large scores do not always play well through scorch so I have included an MP3 which, although not a real band, gives a better idea of the over all sound.

Dasher and Dancer - Alun Cook

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Moderate

O Come! All Ye Faithful - The Fanfare may be played either as an introduction to O Come, All Ye Faithful or as an interlude before the final verse. In the printed score, the Fanfare is written at the start, but the final page of the score contains a standard introduction in case you wish to play the Fanfare before the final verse. The score is slightly condensed for clarity, with some instruments sharing a stave (bassoon 1 and 2 etc) but the parts are all individual, again for ease of reading. A vocal part is also included with the new descant. If you just want the Fanfare, look for the Brass version

O Come, all Ye Faithful - with Fanfare and Descant

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Moderate

Hark The Herald Angels Sing - The Fanfare may be played either as an introduction or as an interlude before the final verse, in which case use the last 2 bars of Verse 1 as an introduction. Verses 1 and 2 may be sung in traditional (Mendelssohn's) four part harmony. These harmonies will fit even though the band parts are developed. The final verse sould be sung in unison with the descant provided. The score is slightly condensed for clarity, with some instruments sharing a stave (bassoon 1 and 2 etc) but the parts are all individual, again for ease of reading. A vocal part for the descant is also included. There are also versions available for Brass Quintet and Full Orchestral Brass.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - with Fanfare and Descant

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Moderate

In Dulci Jubilo - The original is written for two choirs with two solo trumpets. For performance I suggest these soloists are placed on either side of the band. There is a choice of parts for the soloists, either individual parts or combined. The standard of the band parts would suit performers of about grade 6 standard, but the two solo trumpets need to be Grade 8 standard (and confident).

In Dulci Jubilo - Samuel Scheidt

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Moderate

2000 Years - A carol with a message - very plain and simple at the start but with a point to make. Originally intended for young voices, but would adapt well to having adult voices, especially joining in the verse (bar 19). The choir 2 part (3rd time bar) is optional but desirable.

2000 Years - Alun Cook

Moderate

The New Religion - A Carol for the frustrated shopper? The words may be changed to suit local shops or individual aunts? New Religion? It seems to be!

The New Religion (A Shopper's Carol) - Alun Cook

Moderate

A Christmas Message - A Christmas Message - Written for a Carol Festival in 1995 where it was performed by combined choirs from five local primary schools with (accompanied by the West Kent Wind Band), and has since been adapted to be suitable for older voices. It choir parts split into 3 lines in the verses, and these are not difficult to get together. The chorus is in harmony (mostly 2 part) but this is harder to do and the harmonies may be ignored if need be.

A Christmas Message - Alun Cook

Easy

The Santa Express. - In the depths of Kent at Christmas time, the Steam Railways run "Santa Specials" as a Christmas treat for young and old alike. I hope this composition gives a hint of both Christmas and the locomotives which will certainly be my young son's favourite treat of the season. Grade standard is about 6-7, and possibly not quite as hard to play as it may at first sound. Have fun! Also available for Orchestra, Flute and Piano, and for saxophones.

The Santa Express - Alun Cook

Moderate

The Santa Express. - At Christmas in the depths of the English countryside on the Kent and Sussex border, steam railways run Santa Specials as a Christmas treat for young and old alike. My original score was for saxophones, but its popularity has led me to scores it for orchestra where I think it sits very well. The score is not too demanding (deliberatley) and the more unusual orchestral instrument may be omitted (piccolo, cor anglais, bass trombone, harp, and horns 3 and 4). The MP3 file is only synthesized but it gives a good impression of the piece.

The Santa Express - Alun Cook

listen to mp3

Moderate