Product Description
"Silver Bells" was introduced in the 1951 movie, The Lemon Drop Kid. The two stars, Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell, sang the song in the movie, but it was a recording by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards that first caught the public fancy and gave the song its "staying power." The result: this Jay Livingston/Ray Evans composition is still one of the most beloved songs of the Christmas season.
The version offered herein remains true to the spirit of the song while offering a fresh interpretation. It opens with a bright, upbeat introduction, then slows for a straightforward statement of the nostalgically beautiful refrain. This is followed by a peppy rendition of the verse, which is followed, in turn, by a restatement of the refrain, this time in a kind of fugal/echo form. Next, the key shifts from B-flat to E-flat, the time signature goes into 4/4, the tempo picks up and the style switches into syncopated mode. At the end the tempo slows, and the final bars recall the opening refrain.
This arrangement was completed in 2016, and performance time runs about 4 minutes, 7 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les, enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the SheetMusicPlus search box.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.