Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

As much as "O Come, All Ye Faithful" is a lullaby, this arrangement is brimming with a sense of hushed excitement right from the opening measures as the two young girls from the title race to tell the town of the glorious events taking place. The first statement of the melody enters in the right hand with rather simple harmony, but the left hand keeps the excitement alive via a flowing stream of sixteenth notes. There is an abbreviated return of the opening material which leads to the second verse, but this time the left hand rises up to ring out with a bell-like tolling to awaken the townspeople. Meanwhile the right hand plays the melody in octaves, ringing out above to announce the news to one and all. By the third verse, the left hand is playing chords like a brass choir underpinning the melody, which now finds itself amid a flurry of triplets as the joyous tidings news spread far and wide. There is a return to the opening section, concluding with a final cascade from the top of the keyboard to the bottom and ending with a final "Amen!"