Adoration of the Christ Child Overture

Adoration of the Christ Child is a Christmas overture originally written for the musical "In Adoration Of The King Of Kings". The overture begins with a song that I was not familiar with, called "Adoration". I worked with Tom Fetke on this musical and he suggested starting with this song using a brass choir.

I agreed and enjoyed writing this introduction in a beautiful brass choir setting, with a very non-fanfare approach. The opening segues into a light accented version of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" with only short statements of the melodic material, which goes back and forth from accented articulated 8th notes in the woodwinds to legato brass statements of the chorus.

It continues to pick up momentum, which concludes with a decrescendo. There is a brief transitional section which then sets up a recapitulation of the original statement of the song. It concludes with a coda that has the brass playing the articulated accented 8th notes like the woodwinds played before and then broadens to a final climax.

This is one of my favorite Christmas overtures due to its use of fragments of melodic material that maintains the interest of the listener while taking them on a journey of styles and motifs.