Massed primary choirs

The SSA full score is not yet loaded here — on the old site both the “lyrics” and “full score” buttons pointed at the same lyrics file. Ask John for the score PDF and it will be added.

All children learn the unison line first. Add the alto part when the guide track becomes available. Celebrate approximations, as the children transition from the approximate to the exact on their learning journey.

Note for altos: sing a phrase or note down the octave if the unison pitch is too high.

Teaching suggestions

“Moving, saying, playing (around with the elements of the song) and singing.” Steps 2, 3, 4 and 8 can also be done while displaying the lyrics sheet. Using the right-hand player on the University of Toyama page:

1. Invite children to use hands and arms to follow the melodic contour, as seen in the shapes of the notation.
2. Invite the children to pat the rhythm of the text on their arm or chest — gently, in sympathy with the style of the song — while you play the video in sections, or later as a whole.
3. Divide your ensemble in two. One section follows the melodic contour, the other pats the rhythm. Then swap over.
4. Teach the pronunciation of words and phrases, guided by what was learnt in the video. The children may be keen to deduce the pronunciations themselves.
5. Follow the text on screen while the children speak it. Suggest patting the rhythm while they do so.
6. Add words to the melody. Invite them to shape the melodic contour while they sing.
7. Invite the children to sing along with the recording on the right-hand player.
8. Invite the children to sing the karaoke — from the Japanese for “empty orchestra”, accompaniment only — on the left-hand player.

These videos are for learning purposes only. The guide tracks indicate the chosen performance tempo for Celebration Sing Out! 2026.

Choirs, orchestra, pipe organ and audience. All primary school choir singers sing the soprano part, with the alto part optional.

The carol can be sung by religious and non-religious alike, in the Australian tradition of sharing participation in each other’s faiths and cultures. You may consider using SolFa, solfeggio or neutral syllables that maintain the vocal flow — “Ah”, “La” or “Lu” are excellent choices for vocalising the melody or a harmony part.

A traditional concert ending

This famous Christmas carol has been sung at the conclusion of all children’s charity concerts and Celebration Sing Out! at Sydney Town Hall since 1939, as these concerts fall at the start of the Christmas season. It gives full voice to the mighty and culturally significant Sydney Town Hall pipe organ, accompanying the primary, high school and adult choirs and the TOPS symphony orchestra. No other Christmas carol offers such musical and historic richness.

The music features rich four-part harmonies, sung in full by the high school and adult choir — sometimes a descant (a high, decorative part above the main choir), sometimes unison, and always with both orchestral and the traditional grand pipe organ accompaniment. Primary singers and members of the audience are invited to sing along with the melody while the choirs sing harmony.

The arrangement we will sing was made in 1961 by Sir David Willcocks (1919–2015), the renowned British choral conductor, organist and composer, best known as Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge from 1957 to 1974.

The origins of this English Christmas carol go back 800 years. “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, also known as “Adeste Fideles”, has been attributed to various authors; the earliest printed version is in a book published by John Wade in 1751. The original four verses were extended to eight, and these have been translated over the centuries from the original Latin into many languages. In 1841 an English Catholic priest translated the hymn as “O Come All Ye Faithful”, the version commonly sung in English-speaking countries — notably as the second-last hymn at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols every Christmas, sung by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge.