Monthly Archives: October 2020

Still, Still, Still

Download brass quartet sheet music: Still, Still Still.

Please note that “Still, Still, Still” is also part of the compilation Christmas Reharmonized, Volume 1 & 2.

Here’s what it sounds like when played on a piano:

The Story Behind

I started working on this arrangement on the 24th of December 2019. I did not finish it in time to be played in 2019. So here it is for your convenience for the somewhat unconventional 2020 Christmas Season.

The intention behind this arrangement was that it could serve as the first piece for the upcoming collection “Christmas Reharmonized, Volume 2”. Thus I wanted it to begin sparsely, similar to the Andachtsjodler. “Still, Still, Still” starts with an intro (B*): A sparse version of the song that becomes denser and denser until all instruments are active and the voicings have a certain spread at the end of this first version. The second version (A) is the straightforward version of the song that I usually have in my Christmas carol arrangements. I feel that the song “Still, Still, Still” has a lot of grace, and I tried to honor this by deploying ornaments and delayed harmonic resolutions.

The last version (C) is where I added some harmonic seasoning. The song has an ABA form. I had to redo the first A multiple times to strike the balancing act between “artificial sophistication” and “chords that sound fresh and convey: don’t take this too seriously”. For B I was going for a continuous increase in energy level towards the reprise of A, which I perceive as the climax of the song. Also, I wanted to architecturally mend the transition from B to A so that it can’t be broken apart. It’d like BA to be perceived as one 8-bar phrase. Way too often one can hear musicians playing Christmas Carols as fragmented, four-bar sequences with long breaks for breathing in between. Don’t be that kind of a musician :)