God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen for Flexible Percussion Ensemble is arranged with small, beginner ensembles in mind. There are five parts, two for mallets and three for percussion, and can be played as a quintet or with multiple players on each part, using the instruments that are available. The two mallet parts can be played on the same type of instruments or different. One way would be for the Mallets 1 part be played on metal instruments, such as bells, metalphones, and vibraphones, and the Mallets 2 part on wooden instruments, such as xylophones and marimbas. Depending on the instruments, Mallets 1 can be played as written, or played/doubled an octave higher, and Mallets 2, the bass part, can be played as written or played/doubled an octave lower. Percussion 1 can be played on sleigh bells, jingle bells, tambourines, shakers, maracas, etc. Percussion 2 can be played on snare drums, high drums, wood blocks, triangles, etc. Percussion 3 can be played on bass drums, low drums, cowbells, etc. Being written for beginner ensembles, the parts are easily accessible to percussion ensembles, as a percussion feature for a holiday concert, or in a general music class when percussion instruments are being learned.