Otto Kotilainen’s Finnish carol A Sparrow on Christmas Morning tells the story of a sparrow that has exhausted his summer food supply. In danger of starving in the winter cold, he visits a young girl who offers him a seed to eat. The sparrow gratefully accepts the offer, and then reveals that he, her deceased younger brother, has returned from heaven to visit her.
Our arrangement for three or five octaves of handbells, plus three octaves of handchimes, contains plenty of enjoyable challenges for your bell choir, including suspended mallets and rich chime lines. Your B67 C78 ringer will love this piece, as the Position 11 has several solo lines representing the sparrow.
The lyrics tell the story wonderfully:
| Finnish: Varpunen jouluaamuna sanat Lumi on jo peittänyt kukat laaksosessa,
Pienen pirtin portailla oli tyttökulta:
Tytön luo nyt riemuiten lensi varpukulta: En mä ole, lapseni, lintu tästä maasta, |
English: A Sparrow on Christmas Morning Snow has already covered the flowers in the valley On stairs of little house stood deargirl: The dear sparrow flew joyously to the girl I’m not, my child, bird from this land |
Purchasing the handbell choir version of this arrangement grants permission to print and maintain up to fifteen copies for your handbell ensemble; purchasing the single copy version grants permission to print and maintain one copy. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details, and please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.
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