Composition Details
- Composed by: Alan Bullard
- Canadian Work: No
- Duration: 2:30
Performed in Concert
In Collections
Conductor Notes:
This is a cheerful and upbeat Christmas piece on a poem by Frances Jane Crosby (1820-1915). It starts unison with piano, building through 2-part to 3-part, with parts layering and imitating in growing excitement. The tessitura is relatively high and brilliant, well-suited to children or adult voices. Several key changes provide the most challenging aspect to learning this work.
Ring the bells on Christmas morn,
Tell the world the King is born;
He, the Saviour, promised long,
Come and hail him with a song.
Wake your harps, ye angels bright;
Sing aloud ye hosts of light:
Sing as on that holy night:
Glory in the highest!
Ring the bells of Christmas Day,
Waft the story far away;
Through the air, the earth, the sea,
Christ has come our life to be.
Wake your harps…
Ring the bells of love and peace,
Ring the bells till time shall cease;
Lo, he comes with us to dwell:
Christ the Lord Immanuel.
Wake your harps…
(poem by Frances Jane Crosby, 1820-1915)