Song 9: Do you hear what I hear?
by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne
Information:
This song is fairly slow and the rhythm must be precise.It is divided into 3 main parts for SATB - sometimes the ladies sing in unison and so do the men. A large part of it however is in 4 part harmony. The first section is fairly . The second section gets gradually louder. The final section begins after the key change on the top of page 7.
- 1st Section Page 2 to page 4 Letter D. After a short piano introduction the Sopranos sing the melody with the other parts singing in harmony. The men then sing a short phrase in unison then the Laies repeat it. The sopranos then sing the 2 bar melody with the other parts singing in harmony. The men then sing a short phrase followed by the ladies repeating the phrase. The men then sing the melody for 4 bars. The ladies oo above. The ladies then sing the 2 bar melody with the men singing in harmony. At letter C bottom of page 3 the men sing the melody with the ladies singing a harmony above. The men then sing a short phrase followed by the ladies singing the same phrase. The men sing the 2 bar melody the ladies singing above, Finally the men sing a 2 bar phrase followed by the ladies repeating the phrase. This ends section 1 just before Letter D.
B:
- 2nd Section: This section begins just before Letter D with the men singing the melody for 4 bars. The Ladies sing in 3 parts to oo and then singing the words in harmony. The Sopranos then sing the melody for 2 bars with the other parts singing in harmony. At Letter E the men sing the melody with the ladies singing in harmony. The men then sing a short phrase with the Ladies repeating it. From the last bar on page 5 the men sing the melody and the ladies sing in harmony. Second bar of page 6 the men sing the short phrase with the ladies repeating it. The ladies then sing the melody for 3 bars whilst the men sing a counter tune. The men sing the melody for 2 bars. The ladies sing a harmony and then the section is completed with the Sopranos singing the melody and the other parts singing in harmony. At the end of the page the key changes.
T: B:
- 3rd Section: This final section begins with a 2 bar introduction. The voices then sing in harmony and this is loud (The altos sing a version of the melody). The Sopranos then sing the melody with the other parts singing the harmony. The altos then sing a version of the melody for 2 bars. The other parts singing in harmony. The sopranos then sing the melody for the last 2 bars on page 7. The other parts sing in harmony. The melody is then sung by everyone for the next 2 bars. The Altos then sing the main melody for 2 bars, the other parts sing in harmony. The last 8 bars - the Sopranos mainly sing the melody the other parts sing in harmony. Please note some of the notes are changed especialy in the soprano parts.
S:S2:A:
T: B: There are number of choirs singing this on YouTube including the Cambridge Singers conducted by John Rutter. Just click on the YouTube link below to hear another choir. When you have heard the choirs on you tube just click on the back arrow
at the top of the page. This will return you to this page.