White Christmas Arrangement for String Orchestra

As experienced pianists and composers, my friend Knox and I created a lovely orchestral arrangement for White Christmas. Since the holiday season is approaching, we thought it would be fitting to make one for fun!

Musescore, piano, orchestra.

First, we just sat on the piano and tried to identify all the chords by ear that go with this carol.

After identifying the chords, we first just put the notes down exactly like how we would play it on the piano, instead of orchestrating it in four voices immediately.

Then we split into 4 voices by following all the rules of part writing, avoiding any parallels. We also decided the song would be repeated twice, the first time through in C major, then modulating up a half step to D flat the second time.

Since it would sound static if it was just all half and whole notes in the harmony (alto, tenor, bass), and also boring for them to play, we added quarter notes and eighth notes to spice it up a bit. This caused non-harmonic passing tones and appogiaturas to be created, which made the harmony sway. We did not add any sixteenth notes or triplets in this piece as it wouldn't be fitting in this slow, mellow piece. We also added tempo markings and dynamics in this step as well to really add some color.

Lastly, we decided to create a descant for the D flat section, as we wanted to do something more than just orchestrating it. A descant is an independent treble melody sung or played above a basic melody, so we decided to make it a beautiful violin solo. We made sure so it fits well with the original melody, only playing when the original melody is holding a note or has a rest. We also made sure to incorporate themes from the original melody so it wouldn't stick out like a thumb from the orchestra playing in the background. Knox and I split this section into two, me doing the first part of the D flat section and Knox doing the second. The challenging part of this was that he couldn't just make a melody without listening to mine first, or else it might sound weird and out of the ordinary as they might contrast too much. Therefore, after I created the melody, he listened to what I had first and then expertly followed the themes that I used in my melody while also interpreting it in his own way. After combining both of our melodies, they sounded great together, and the arrangement was finally finished.

We had a chance a few days ago for this arrangement to be played by a real orchestra. A winter concert was coming up at our high school, and the orchestra of the music program we are a part of was able to play it there. And instead of just having a violin solo, we also had a talented singer and flute player join us. We made it so he sings the lyrics of White Christmas in the C major part, and plays the descant with his flute after the violin, repeating the D flat section two times. Overall, it was such a great experience making this arrangement with Knox and being able to hear it from a real orchestra at the end. I have attached the yt video of that performance with the score.