Twas the Night Before Christmas

For almost two centuries, the memorable poem by Clement Clarke Moore has been passed from generation to generation helping shape our mental images of Christmas. We wanted to wrap it up musically for today's children, and who is better to do that than Teresa Jennings?

As you can hear from the recorded excerpt, the melodies are memorable but easy to learn and sing, and the song is broken into several sections. The opening is traditional and it moves naturally into one of several "hip hop" sections that your kids will love (and your boys will have a great time performing as ours did in the studio). At the center of the work is a short ethereal section appropriate to text, and a big finale.

The Mice - In the recording, you hear a "Greek chorus" of sorts... made up of mice! They comment on the action and just generally have a great time of it. These parts can be performed by a couple of kids or a small group within your group, or perhaps some of your younger kids can pantomime along with the recorded tracks. Also, during the hip hop sections, there is a group of "Manly Mice" who accent key words with great enthusiasm. Here's where some of your more theatrical (dare we say, "hammy") boys will shine.

This is a guaranteed crowd pleaser that will work well with one class, or with several classes or grades combined. It's a great way to share a bit of familiar history with your singers set in an imaginative way that everyone will enjoy.