Variety says, “Hark! is the new Hit!” Okay, stop groaning…back to business.

An arrangement of Mendelssohn’s Hark the Herald Angels Sing, by Jackson Berkey, who has been a part of Chip Wiggen’s musical productions distributed under the name “Mannheim Steamroller.” Wikipedia tells us:

“The name “Mannheim Steamroller” comes from an 18th-century German musical technique, Mannheim roller (German: Mannheimer Walze), a crescendo passage having a rising melodic line over an ostinato bass line, popularized by the Mannheim school of composition.”

Now you know.

There are two or four or seven parts, depending on where you are in the piece. The first place where all seven split is measure 83, on page 15. The Lala singers divide according to the direction of the stems on the notes. On page 21, at measure 116, the score says, “Obligato unison, S.T. divide.” In this section, the top note goes to the sopranos1-2, the next one down to the tenors1-2, the third to the altos1-2, and the bottom one to the basses.

All the pieces below begin with two 3-beat measures of piano, before the choir comes in. I entered the piano parts here and in the instrumental intervals where the choir doesn’t sing. You’ll still need to count, and check whether you’re in 3/4 or 4/4.

The whole banana:

First sopranos emphasized:

Second sopranos emphasized:

First altos emphasized:

Second altos emphasized:

First tenors emphasized:

Second tenors emphasized:

Bass emphasized: