This beautiful Christmas folk melody by John Jacob Niles is arranged as an instrumental trio (for VIOLIN and CELLO with PIANO accompaniment). The beautiful, lyrical style of this instrumental piece creates a mellow, curious atmosphere and is an ideal selection for any church setting.
Both the CELLO and VIOLIN get to lead with the melody at times making it enjoyable and equally challenging for both players while adding variety for the listeners. For the first verse, the VIOLIN carries the melody and the CELLO plays melody for the second verse. For the final (third) verse, the two parts alternate playing the melody as a solo followed by playing as a duet for the concluding phrases. The audio sample begins at the pickup to measure 7 after the PIANO introduction.
Ranges for the string instruments are as follows: VIOLIN ~ E4 to B5; CELLO ~ G2 to C4 (middle C). For both the VIOLIN and CELLO, all notes are playable in the first position. With the limited range and technical difficulty, this arrangement is an excellent choice for early-intermediate string players.
The purchase price includes these printing options: 1. a grand staff (8 pages) with all parts on each page
2. separate scores for the CELLO and VIOLIN (2 pages each) and PIANO (4 pages)
3. a combined CELLO and VIOLIN score (3 pages)