SABar and piano (with optional percussion)
Duration: 3.5 minutes | Difficulty: Very Easy – Easy
This highly imaginative, creative arrangement of the popular Christmas carol for SABar, piano and percussion by Michael Higgins, brings the traditional story alive as the Three Kings (and their camels) follow the Star to Bethlehem.
SABar and piano
Duration: 2.5 minutes | Difficulty: Very Easy – Easy
A gentle arrangement by Michael Higgins of the 17th-century lullaby for SABar, with a flowing idiomatic piano accompaniment.
SABar and piano
Duration: 3 minutes | Difficulty: Very Easy – Easy
Michael Higgins’ arrangement of How can I keep from singing? is a calm and flowing reimagination of Robert Lowry’s well-known melody. The harmonically rich piano accompaniment supports the choir as it explores different textures in each verse. Flexibly arranged, with options for an unaccompanied section and descant, this piece will appeal to community, school, and church choirs alike.
SABar and piano
Duration: 3 minutes | Difficulty: Very Easy – Easy
Higgins’s arrangement of the popular German carol is given a modern twist with fresh harmonies, but still captures the gentleness and tranquillity found in more traditional settings. Supported by sustained ‘oo’s and ‘ah’s throughout, the well-known melody is underpinned by a delicate piano accompaniment, with an optional unaccompanied middle section.
“Still, still, still is an arrangement by Michael Higgins of the well-loved Austrian traditional carol. Its most obvious attraction for smaller choirs with fewer men is that the voices are divided three ways – S, A, Bar – but this is by no means its only merit. The textures and harmonies all contribute to a sense of space and light, and the piano accompaniment gently illustrates the stillness that the text demands.”
Jeremy Jackman, Choir & Organ, August 2021
SABar and piano
Duration: 2.5 minutes | Difficulty: Very Easy – Easy
Higgins’ setting of this popular folk song is simple and wistful, particularly well-suited for children’s and youth choirs. With delicate quaver flourishes, the piano accompaniment flows gently alongside the vocal lines, creating suspensions that reflect the mysterious demands of the narrator. Originally published in The Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs ed. Bullard for three-part choir.
SABar (with optional Bass) and piano
Duration: 2 minutes | Difficulty: Easy
Higgins’s setting explores the vibrant, natural imagery in Rossetti’s text with flowing melodic lines and warm harmonies. The elegant piano accompaniment is characterised throughout by quick demisemiquaver flourishes, as though painting an aural portrait of the ‘singing bird’. First published in The Oxford Book of Flexible Choral Songs ed. Bullard.
