Well, it's June and, as everyone knows, Christmas is just around the corner! It's past the summer solstice so the nights are drawing in, as we say round here and so I present you with a collection of 12 Wassail songs - one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. All given my own special treatment without, I hope, changing their essential character.
There are three versions, one for Brass Quintet (of course), one for String Quintet and one for Wind Quintet with some simple percussion parts added for authentic medieval flavour. They should be playable by most levels of ensemble and will be found suitable for the whole Christmas season - and as a change from the usual carols. There's enough variety here for the whole Christmas season.
Most of them are quite short, but you repeat them as long as you need (great for processionals). A couple of them will probably be quite familiar (Here We Come, A-Wassailing, The Yorkshire Wassail) but most are less well known and I chose these deliberately because they deserve to be heard more.
If you don't have percussionists, the dru and tambourine parts can be dispensed with, though obviously, they do add to the atmosphere. The Tambourine could also be replaced with jingle bells if you want to evoke Santa Claus.
Have a listen and enjoy!