Braley, Percival & Boyce-Tillman (ed) - 32 Galliard Carols for Christmas

Edited by June Boyce-Tillman, Bernard Braley and Allen Percival

Covering several centuries, 32 Galliard Carols for Christmas, contains not only such favourites as Silent Night and We wish you a merry Christmas, but also newer carols including Carol for Christingle, written by Fred Pratt Green for Norwich Cathedral and The Wassail of Figgy Duff — “traditional words and music invented by Michael Flanders”.

Most of the arrangements are made so that the carols may be sung with keyboard or guitar, by solo voices or groups of any vocal combination; many have optional parts for instruments, singing descants or vocal backing for a soloist. The arrangers hope that performers will return to the old practice of adding instruments to voices, which was common in all carolling until the beginning of the 20th century: percussion instruments can be added with good effect to many carols, emphasising their dancing origin.