This beautiful arrangement of the much loved tenor solo The Three Kings was made for the GUS Band and euphonium soloist Mark Giles, for the CD recording Christmas Fantasia - The Music of Andrew Wainwright (2013).
The Three Kings, or Three Kings From Persian Lands Afar, is a Christmas carol by the German composer Peter Cornelius. He set Die Könige for a vocal soloist, accompanied by Philip Nicolai’s hymn Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (‘How Brightly Shines the Morning Star’), which he erroneously thought was an Epiphany hymn. In fact, it is an Advent hymn in which the morning star is an allegory for the arrival of Jesus, not the Star of Bethlehem.
In Cornelius’ original second setting, the accompaniment was played on a piano but the English organist Ivor Atkins later arranged the accompaniment for choir, with the choir singing the words of the original hymn. The carol describes the visit of the Biblical Magi to the Infant Jesus during the Nativity and is also used as an Epiphany anthem.
To view a rolling score video of Mark Giles performing the solo with GUS Band, please visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsLVNknim7w
PDF download includes score and parts.
Sheet music available from:
USA - www.solidbrassmusic.com
Difficulty Level: 4th Section +
Instrumentation:
Euphonium Soloist Bb
Soprano Cornet Eb
1st Cornet Bb
2nd Cornet & Flugel Bb
1st Horn Eb
2nd Horn Eb
1st Baritone Bb
2nd Baritone Bb
1st Trombone Bb
2nd Trombone Bb
Bass Trombone
2nd Euphonium Bb
Bass Eb
Bass Bb