Published: 2025
Publisher: Print Music Source
Duration: 3:06
Grade: 3
Difficulty: Medium
The original melody of “O Tannenbaum” is from a 16th Century German folk tune. Lyrics created in 1824 by a German organist and composer paid tribute to the “Tannenbaum” (fir tree) as a symbol of its faithfulness and durability. Through the decades the song has become solidly associated with Christmas and the Holiday season.
A loose translation of the German lyric appears below:
O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, / How faithfully you blossom! / Through Summer’s heat and Winter’s chill / your leaves are green and blooming still. / O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, / How faithfully you blossom!
This Charles Booker setting for Concert Band musically captures the beautiful sensitivity as well as the magnificent strength and resilience of the fir tree.