Christmas Carol-oke

The thirteenth piece in the concert, entitled Christmas Carol-oke, was arranged by Larry Hall (see below) this year.

This clever arrangement would do well as a “stand-alone” medley of eight Christmas carols. But adding to its charm is the fact that the audience can sing-along with the carols. But the inventiveness and complexity of the arrangement practically demands that someone cue the audience when it’s time to start singing the next song.

The publisher even includes a QR code, which they invite us to copy onto the program. It takes the audience to a webpage which enables them to see the words on their smartphones while joining in the singing.

After a brief introduction which includes short quotes from “O Christmas Tree” and “Joy to the World”, the first song for singing along is “O Christmas Tree”. Then the medley rapidly transitions to “Jingle Bells”, complete with an energetic “Ha-Ha-Ha” from muted trumpets. An intricate obbligato from the upper woodwinds leads to a brief slow down, which then proceeds to “Deck the Hall”.

Another brief slow-down leads to a “boom-chuck” introduction to “Jolly Old St. Nicholas”. What’s this? Does Larry Clark think Santa Claus is some kind of clown? While the trumpets continue with “Jolly Old…”, the upper woodwinds and horns suddenly start playing the first phrase from “Entry of the Gladiators” by Julius Fučík (which most of us associate with clowns at a circus). Undeterred, the trumpets “barrel on” with “Jolly Old…”, but then the low brass and woodwinds comically start playing the first phrase from “The Toreador Song” from Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen”. The trumpets stalwartly continue despite another attempt to distract with “Entry of…” until finally all join in completing “Jolly Old…”.

Another brief transition leads to “Angels We Have Heard on High”, followed by another slow-down, this time “for reals” for a poignant presentation of “Silent Night”. After a reiteration of the final phrase (sans singers), the arrangement suddenly changes to a more sprightly feel with “Up on the Housetop”. Another additional reiteration of the final phrase (again, without the singers) takes us to the appropriately final song of the medley, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. After a dramatic “fermata” on the penultimate note of the song, the band jumps back to “O Christmas Tree” while the audience holds the last note of “We Wish…”

Arranger Larry Clark (b. 1963) has been influenced by a variety of composers and teachers. He credits his father, a long time band director in Florida, for teaching him the joy of music. He was influenced early in his writing career by Robert W. Smith. He holds a bachelor's degree in music education from Florida State University and master's degrees in conducting and composition from James Madison University in Virginia. His decision to pursue composition and arranging was influenced further by Dr. John Hillard, composition professor at JMU. Dr. Pat Rooney, director of bands at JMU, gave Larry his first performance opportunities by performing his arrangements with the popular Marching Royal Dukes.

Larry considers himself to be a product of the school band movement. His works are highly influenced by the standard band repertoire of composers such as Holst, Grainger, Schuman and Persichetti.

Clark's diverse background as a former middle school and university band director at Syracuse University, combined with his composing and editing, placed him at the forefront of music for school ensembles. He is the founder of Excelcia Music in Lakeland, Fla. He was formerly Vice President for Carl Fischer Music in New York. At Carl Fischer he served as Editor-in-Chief and coordinated all of Carl Fischer’s publishing in all genres of music. However, his main focus was on selecting, editing and producing concert band and string orchestra music for the company. He travels the world representing Carl Fischer Music doing clinic/workshops and guest conducting appearances. Prior to this appointment he served as an Instrumental Music Editor for Warner Bros. Publications in Miami.

His music is some of the most popular and most performed by concert bands and string orchestras of all ability levels. Larry is equally adept at writing music for beginners as he is for high school and college ensembles. His music is characterized by rhythmic verve, tuneful melodies, contains a fresh harmonic perspective, is well scored and stretches the musicianship of the performers. He prides himself on producing music that is not only intriguing to performers and audiences alike but that contains a playability that comes from a keen understanding of the technical difficulties inherent in all instruments. His pieces have been performed internationally and appear on numerous contest/festival performance required music lists. He is an ASCAP award-winning composer, has over 300 publications in print and is in demand to write commissions for bands and orchestras across the country.

Larry is in demand as a clinician and guest conductor around the country. He has presented clinics recently at the Midwest Clinic, the New York State School Music Association conference, the Texas Music Educators Association conference, the Ohio Music Educators Association conference, the Florida Music Educators Association conference and the Wisconsin Music Educators Association conference as well as numerous guest-conducting appearances internationally.

He is co-author with Sandy Feldstein of the innovative band method The Yamaha Advantage.

Clark is also known to have written under the pseudonym Keiko Yamada.

The music for Christmas Carol-oke was purchased for the band by Carol Riddle in loving memory of Harry Riddle.