Two Christmas Songs

Two Christmas Songs

Percy Grainger (1882 – 1961)

S/AATB Saxophone Quartet

Two Christmas Songs by Percy Grainger arranged for saxophone quartet SATB or AATB. The two songs included in this arrangement are English folk songs Grainger set for chorus.

1. Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol – This beautiful, expressive melody was harmonized by Grainger with richly-voiced, wide-spaced chords and interesting inner parts. Though technically not difficult, the tempo is slow and requires good control by all players. Balancing the main melody with the inner voices requires care.
2. There Was a Pig Went Out to Dig – (Christmas Day in the Morning) An English rhyming song from Lancashire. It was first published in Miss M. H. Mason’s Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs. It’s a bouncy, fun piece that alternates solo lines and group choruses.

This arrangement of Two Christmas Songs is arranged for S/AATB saxophone quartet. If you’re playing both pieces as a set, the lead player should switch instruments between the first and second pieces. The ‘Sussex Mummer’s Christmas Carol’ should be played as an AATB quartet and ‘There Was a Pig’ played SATB.

• The range for each saxophone part is shown below.
• Audio and score excerpts are available above.
• Registered users can download a complete sample score and full length audio file of Two Christmas Songs on the ‘Samples’ tab.

See all our Christmas music for saxophone ensembles.