The last track on my album Christmas Piano is an arrangement of the beloved carol O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. And because this is my husband’s favorite Christmas song, I wanted to make the arrangement extra special.
Check out the sheet music here:
A Brief Recap
You might remember that O Come, O Come, Emmanual had its origins in
A Modern Arrangement
I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate the song’s chant origins in a fresh way. So after doing a little improvising on the piano, I came up with a new version of the melody – one that incorporates chant-like stepwise motion.
Unlike the Medieval melody, the accompaniment is based on contemporary minimalism. Notice the repeated harmonies and alternating 8th notes; these melodic cells build on each other and the melody to create a unique arrangement of O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. I hope you enjoy listening to my arrangement as much as I enjoyed writing it.