Away in a Manger Trumpet Duet

Description

Important Note: This trumpet duet is also available in the Trumpet Christmas Duets book. It’s a book of 21 Christmas carols arranged for trumpet duet. Click HERE to go buy that book.

Away in a Manger Trumpet Duet

William J. Kirkpatrick, John T. McFarland, James R. Murray

Arr. Eddie Lewis

Away in a Manger is one of those pieces that I’ve written several arrangements of. In the past, I always strove to “do something” with the famous Christmas carol. I always took the creative approach. But this series of Christmas duets is meant to follow the same format as the Trumpet Hymn Duets that have become so popular. I want them to honor the mood and harmonies of the original Christmas carol.

I actually enjoy writing this way. It’s simpler. It’s more peaceful. And when I say more peaceful, I mean the music as well as the process of writing it. With these arrangements, I don’t feel the need to prove myself as a writer. The Christmas carols (and the hymns) are already beautiful and there’s no need to over do it.

I tell my composition students that an arrangement should always add value to the original composition. I consider an arrangement to be a failure if it deters from the beauty of the original music. In this Away in a Manger trumpet duet arrangement, I feel like what little I’ve added simply adds a tiny bit of flavor to an already delicious meal.

Trumpet Christmas Duet Series

This Away in a Manger trumpet duet arrangement is the next duet in a series of Trumpet Christmas Duets. The Christmas Trumpet Duets is like part two of the Trumpet Hymn Duets series (which is now also a book). There is a very specific format behind the arrangement that I’ve adhered to for almost every duet in the series (the exception for the Christmas duets is Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence).

You can browse other duets in this series by clicking the following button:

Trumpet Christmas Duets

When we reach twenty-one of these duets, we will publish them in a book like we did with the first twenty-one Trumpet Hymn Duets. Then I will go back to writing more of the hymns again. We put our emphasis on the Christmas carols because so many people requested them.

Skill Level

In our skill level system, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence trumpet duet is at the Trumpet Player skill level. This is the third skill level in our system, the first of two intermediate skill levels. Most high school trumpet players should be good enough to play this arrangement.

Practice Recommendations

Away in a Manger is fairly easy and can probably be sight read by most good high school students. Probably the most important things to watch out for are the intonation and phrasing.

Away in a Manger Trumpet Duet Play-Along

We have a free trumpet play-along video in our You Play First Chair video series for Away in a Manger trumpet duet. These trumpet play-along videos are educational tools meant to help trumpet students practice their sight reading and ensemble playing. But they also work very well for letting prospective customers take the piece for a proverbial test drive. Click on the following button to access the trumpet play along video for Away in a Manger:

Away in a Manger Trumpet Play-Along

Away in a Manger Trumpet Duet Score Video

The following is a score video for Away in a Manger. We offer these score videos so you have an opportunity to see and hear the piece before you buy it.