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THE BURT FAMILY CAROL SERIES
Click on a title below for complete texts, score samples, and sound files

Be Like the Bird - 2009 (5-part canon)
Behind the Clouds - 2008 (SATB a cappella with soprano/tenor solo)
Hail, Christmas Day! - 2003 (SATB a cappella - or - SSAA a cappella)
He Might Have Come on Clouds of Heaven - 2002 (SATB a cappella)
In a Far Judean City - 2001 (SATB a cappella)
Prayer for Peace - 2004 (SATB a cappella - or - TTBB a cappella - or - unison voices and strings)
Run, Toboggan, Run - 2007 (SATB a cappella)
Shem Speaks - 2006 (SATB a cappella)
Song of the Pines - 2005 (SATB a cappella)
What is this about?

In 1922, my great-grandfather began writing an annual Christmas Carol and sending it out as his Christmas card. Twenty years later, the tradition passed to his son, Alfred Burt, whose carols included the popular "Caroling, Caroling," and "Some Children See Him," among many others. Since 2001, I've been continuing this family tradition, begun over 85 years ago.

As word of this crazy tradition spreads, I have received orders for the sheet music for my carols from an increasing number of church, community, and university choruses across the United States and in three countries. They have been performed by the Philadelphia Singers, Pike Kor (Luther College), and the San Antonio Chamber Choir, among many others. Each Christmas, my new carol premieres to a regional listening audience on Minnesota Public Radio. Links to sample scores, sound files, and -- in some cases -- a short interview about the carol, can be found by clicking the titles above.

To read more about the family history, click: A Brief History of the Burt Family Carols


Emily Betinis