Instant Sheet Music

This is a PDF download for the sheet music "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night," arranged for solo piano. This is a digital file you print from home.

Performance notes: my design for this song was to create a hillside scene of shepherds tending their flock of sheep. The first stanza introduces this “pastoral” motif that continues throughout the piece. In the second stanza, as the angels appear to announce their message, the tempo abruptly changes. Shimmering sixteenth notes depict the dazzling brightness, and the abrupt change in tempo conveys the “mighty dread” that had “seized their troubled minds.” Then, the third stanza broadens into a full chorus of singing angels glorifying God on high and proclaiming peace on earth. As the final verse comes to a climax, triplets gradually accelerate and crescendo to portray the angels swiftly ascending back into the heavens. Gently, a quiet peace settles back over the hillside.