Composer: Traditional 16th Century English Christmas Carol
Duration: c. 4 minutes
Price: £25
Grade: 5-8
Instrumentation: Brass Quintet
Trumpet 1 in Bb
Flugelhorn in Bb
French Horn
Trombone
Tuba

Coventry Carol is a popular traditional English Carol from the 16th Century. The words refer to the Massacre of Innocents, in which King Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. It takes the form of a lullaby sung by the mothers of the doomed children.

This arrangement was written for the Ensemble of the Golden Bough Christmas Single release in 2024. Released on the PTC record label, the track received over 60,000 streams in the first week of release across all major platforms. It is designed to be the first of many annual releases of classic Medieval Christmas recordings.

Musically this new setting allows for virtuosity in all the parts, and covers a little of both dark and light colours that the original source conjures. Menacing, brooding, modal open fifths create an air of menace in the tuba and trombone parts. The horn adds a characteristic bold and noble sound, while the flugelhorn bridges the sonority gap between trumpet and horn, additionally sweetly and motherly expressing the first iteration of the melody. Bold and intense unisons impress the severity and anger of the ‘Herod the King’ verse, while fanfare-like trumpet flourish and herald the regal proclamation of the story in the final verse.

Ensemble of the Golden Bough Performance, Youtube:

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