Almost all the “classic” carols composed pre 1900 and even some composed later work well. All you really need to ensure is that there are no key changes and that the range doesn’t go below the dominant (i.e., below a nominal G for a tune pitched in C on a C/G instrument). In addition to those already mentioned, you could try the following: Angels We Have Heard on High The Holly She Bears a Berry Hark! The Herald Angels Sing Joy to The World O Come, All Ye, Faithful (Adestes Fideles) O Little Town of Bethlehem (the slower piece might be nice for your child, but a nicer tune than the sort of depressed-sounding one commonly used in the US can be found here http://cantorion.org/music/14/O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Forest-Green-tune-%28UK%29) The First Noel Remember that drone instruments, particularly bagpipes, are associated with Christmas in much of Europe and the Christmas tunes have typically retained bagpipe-like characteristics and work well on bagpipe, so most classic Christmas tunes work well on HG as well. It’s more a matter of what *doesn’t* work well. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Holly-Jolly Christmas, and some of the 1940s/50s tunes that still dominate Christmas playlists won’t work, but most older tunes are no problem.
There are a lot of eastern European Christmas tunes that are quite beautiful but not familiar to western audiences that work really well on HG, but finding scores and information on them is tough. Best, Arle -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
