Product Description
George J. Elvey composed "Diademata" to serve as the melody for Matthew Bridges hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns." Published in 1868, its name derives from diadema, the Greek word for crown, which is also the source of the English word diadem. "Diademata" remains the most frequently used tune for "Crown Him with Many Crowns."
This arrangement contains five versions of the melody. It opens with a quotation from bars 5-8 of Elveys score to introduce the arrangement. The first time through the 16 bars of "Crown Him with Many Crowns" the tempo is marked "Andante e Rubato": that is, take it moderately slow but feel free to speed up or slow down in your interpretation. Two instrument pairs take turns doing this-Trumpets 1 and 2, and Horn in F and Trombone. The remainder of the piece should be played at an up-tempo speed of about 120 bpm.
The second time through is a rather straightforward repetition of the melody, but the lead wanders around among the five instruments.
Versions 3, 4 and 5 are each preceded by a brief introductory interlude.
The third variation features the upper four instruments. They have mostly eighth-note figures that play around the melody, while in the background Tuba softly reminds us what the actual tune is.
Up to this point, the key has been D, but for the fourth version of the melody, the key switches to A. The style is rondo and includes several melodic cascades.
For the last variation, the key goes back to D, and the five instruments play an almost straight version of Elveys score.
The arrangement wraps up with a reverent half-time repetition of the melodys last four measures.
All notes are well within the normal playing range of the five instruments. There are no tricky rhythms or demanding short-note passages. Nonetheless, this is a solid-sounding arrangement, one your quartet will enjoy playing and your audience will enjoy hearing.
Completed in 2021, performance time for "Crown Him with Many Crowns" runs about 4 minutes, 15 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 search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)
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.