He Comes at Christmastide by Robert H. Young is a wonderful medley, about 20 minutest long with strings and chorus.  It is published by Gentry (Hal Leonard).  Some divisi but wonderful vocal lines for singers.

 

You might also consider some of the works of Ed Henderson.  He specializes in multi-cultural music, much of it from Latin America, but he has an album of choral settings called "A World Christmas" and most of the works on that album have string quartet as well as other instrumentation.  These are shorter individual works in a variety of languages.  Most pieces are from 2-5 minutes in length and primarily SATB with little divisi.  There are a number of English and traditional European carols but also fine works such as "En El Portal a Belen", "El Cielo Canta", "Fum, Fum, Fum", "Midnight Stars Make Bright the Sky" (Chinese carol in both Chinese and English), and a medley of Czech carols in English.  some of these are published by earthsongs but if you wish to get the arrangements with strings, contact me and I will put you in touch with Ed.  He publishes many of these arrangements himself.  I highly recommend these as ways to give a real "change of pace" to a Lessons and Carols service and my singers - both my University choir and my own volunteer church choir - have sung his works and enjoyed them very much.

 

Grace and peace,

Larry Smith

Missouri Baptist University

St. Louis MO

smithl(a)mobap.edu

Hi James,

 

I've done quite a bit of writing and arranging for my own church's strings. Maybe some of what I've done would be helpful. Here are a few to get you started:

 

Creator of the Stars of Night: I used this as the procession and it worked beautifully. Organ and/or strings play Arvo Pärt-ish interludes. Choir chants the verses, processing with candles during the interludes.

Lo, How a Rose: A jazz ballad arrangement for Solo, SATB and piano, with optional strings. Piano could be replaced by organ, or if you want to do something really cool, use a jazz guitar and/or rhythm section.

Go Tell It on the Mountain: A simple arrangement for congregational singing that would sound best with piano, rhythm section and brass.

O Holy Night: The full score is for Solo, SATB, brass, strings, piano, percussion, but you could get by with less.

A Mark of Grace: I'm planning to use this in my L&C service this year in conjunction with the first Genesis reading. A song of sin and redemption for SATB, strings and keyboard.

 

This will get you started. If you're intersted in discussing it, just email. I've used strings in most L&C services I've planned, but would need to go back through past programs to jog my memory.

 

Peace,

 

Greg

greg-at-gregscheer.com

Saint-Saens Christmas Oratorio is SATB with organ and strings (a couple of movements have harp as well, but it could easily be omitted). Several of the movements could be done independently of the oratorio.

Here are several anthems we have done on Christmas Eve with string quartet. Some are just the quartet, some are organ plus quartet, some are solo violin or viola with organ.

 

An Advent Alleluia/Keith Christopher (Salvation Is Created/Let All Mortal Flesh)  Hal Leonard

As Lately We Watched/Richard Hillert   Morningstar Publishers

Gentle Mary Laid Her Child/arr. Hal Hopson  strings, 8 handbellsHope Publishing

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly/arr. Mack Wilberg   Oxford University Press

In the Bleak Midwinter/AlanHigbee (new melody)    solo oboe/violin  Hal Leonard

O Holy Night/Adam/ arr. Alan Higbee  vocal solo with string quartet  Jameston Mill Press

Pavane for A Silent Night/Jean Ann Schafermann  strings  Alfred Music Publishing

Rejoice, Rejoice this Happy Morn/John Ferguson, with solo viola  Morningstar Publishers

Here's a ChoralNet resource on this topic. Here's another, which is Christmas-related. And a third.