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XMAS-CHRISTMAS – Little Donkey (by Eric Boswell) – 8 CELLOS

Other Identification:
“Little Donkey” is a well-known Christmas carol written in 1959 by British songwriter Eric Boswell. The song describes the long and difficult journey of the donkey carrying Mary to Bethlehem before the birth of Jesus Christ.

Boswell wanted to write a new Christmas song for children. Inspired by the journey to Bethlehem, he decided to tell the story from the donkey’s perspective, focusing on its steadfastness and perseverance.

The original idea was to have a children’s choir perform the song, but his publisher instead gave it to singer Gracie Fields. Fields recorded the first version of the song in 1959. Later that year, the Beverley Sisters also released a popular version. However, The most successful version of the song came in 1960 from the Danish folk duo Nina & Frederik, who took it to No. 3 on the UK singles chart.

A 1998 poll named “Little Donkey” the third most popular Christmas carol ever, after “Silent Night” and “Away in a Manger”.

Movements or sections: Lyrics:

The lyrics tell the story of the donkey’s journey to Bethlehem with a “precious load.”

(Verse 1)
Little donkey, little donkey, on the dusty road,
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load.
Been a long time, little donkey, through the winter’s night,
Don’t give up now, little donkey, Bethlehem’s in sight.

(Chorus) Ring out those bells tonight, Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Follow that star tonight, Bethlehem, Bethlehem.

(Verse 2)
Little donkey, little donkey, had a heavy day,
Little donkey, carry Mary safely on her way.

Instrumentation: OCTET OF EIGHT CELLOS

Arranged by David Johnstone

This music is in 5 PDFs:
[1 – General Score
[2 – Cellos 1 to 2
[3 – Cellos 3 to 4
[4 – Cellos 5 to 6
[5 – Cellos 7 to 8

Approximate difficulty: MEDIUM

Dedicatee of this presentation (if applicable): This musical creation was originally written for the Cello section of ‘The Rehearsal Orchestra’ of Great Britain

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