A Silent Night in Scarborough

Description

“Scarborough Fair” and “Silent Night” are wonderfully beautiful works in minor keys. Who would have thought that mixing them together would work so well? Paired perfectly with the concert band and all its vibrant color, arranger Tyler Arcari has woven these timeless classics together into a delicate and gorgeous new work.

Program Notes

As far back as I can remember, one of my favorite Christmas carols has always been “Silent Night.” Something about the melody and its twists and turns speaks to me. For as long as I have been writing, I have yet to conclude that I could somehow create a new arrangement of this melody and say something new. That was until I heard a very old instrumental version of “Scarborough Fair” playing on the radio close to Christmastime at one of my wife’s and my favorite Thai restaurants. While the hauntingly beautiful melody of “Scarborough Fair” played, I found myself humming the initial melody of “Silent Night” and thinking what a wonderful accent that line makes for the other melody.

“A Silent Night in Scarborough” was born! Christmas, to me, is always a little darker than the bright lights and merry movies on TV. In fact, most of those movies have a little darkness in them too—for without the dark, how do we ever know what light is? With that, I thought what a wonderfully dark, hopeful, and beautiful marriage these two melodies would make. I hope that you enjoy this beautiful arrangement, and hopefully, I ended up saying something familiar…and just a little bit new.