Celebratory Archives - Donna & Andy

Deo / Sing Together / Winter, Winter

Andy Duinker — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 17:10:53 +0000

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Deo / Sing Together / Winter, Winter

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide or the Donna & Andy band track for Deo / Sing Together / Winter, Winter.

Piano + melody guide

Donna & Andy band - instrumental track

Part of a Song Collection

Deo is one of 12 songs from the song collection "It's Christmas Time". Donna Rhodenizer has written these songs in a variety of styles and skill levels for singers from ages 5-12+.

Learn more about this fun collection for elementary-aged kids, choirs and solo vocal students.

Purchase print copy from Amazon

Stream and Purchase Audio Tracks

Stream or Purchase Deo (It's Christmas Time CD) from many streaming sites including:

Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

The Donna & Andy CD: It's Christmas Time includes performance and instrumental tracks (20). Available for download or physical CD on this website.

Teacher Tips

To assist with successful presentation of the quickly moving lyrics in the B sections of this song, divide the ensemble into two parts. Sing bars 50-65 as call and response with one group singing the whole note “calls” and the remainder of the group singing the eighth-note responses.

Add body percussion

Include a clapping pattern/motion in the choruses to add visual interest to the performance.

NOTE: Donna has created a clapping pattern that works well with the song. Complete instructions for each lyric variation are included in the download.

Create your own clapping pattern/motion to enhance your performance.

Add scarves

Create visual excitement in your performance by adding scarves to your presentation.

Many vibrant colours add to the celebratory feel of the lyrics.
White scarves can be used to represent snow.

Create your own movement patterns.

When adding any type of “choreography”, create shape within the form of the piece

Begin the song without any movement
Add scarves or movement as the lyrics repeat to create momentum within the song.
Add scarves or other movement in the choruses or verses, but not both, to complement the contrasts between sections of the song.

Composer's Notes

Deo

A recurring theme in my composer’s notes is the fact that I would write a song because I needed repertoire for a school concert or other school event. This was the case for Deo, but there is also a back story that goes with this song.

As a young teacher putting together concert programs for my students, I enjoyed including an all-school finale for the ending of the concert. Particularly in schools with smaller populations, it was fun to have a large group of students singing together. At one point, I took a job at a larger school where I found out that Christmas concerts were historically long, drawn-out affairs. Because of this, parents were in the habit of leaving with their kids as soon as the class song had been sung. Here was the opportunity to use my all-school finale songs to their fullest advantage. In addition to having the great sound of all those combined voices, an all-school finale meant that all students were involved in the final song of the concert, so parents needed to stay!

Deo was written as the all-school finale for my first concert at this new school. I knew I needed something dramatic and worth waiting for. I also had to have something that was simple enough for the youngest students to sing while being musically interesting for the older students. The driving rhythm of Deo kept things exciting, the simple repetitive words in the opening chorus were easy to remember and more difficult words in the contrasting B section were handled by the older singers. In addition to these musical choices, I included simple hand clapping “choreography” which created visual interest and pizzazz.

The concert finale was a hit! Students loved singing Deo and the audience perceptibly gasped at the flashy ending of the song. That first Christmas concert finale became a tradition that I continued through my entire career – with new songs needing to be written in subsequent years, of course!

We recorded Deo on the Donna & Andy CD: It’s Christmas Time. We were delighted to be joined by a full choir and absolutely wonderful instrumentalists to create a smoking track for the recording. The instrumental track turned out to be a super accompaniment for use with young singers in schools.

The original Deo, with its more sacred lyrics, was included in the Christmas cantata I composed for my local church. This song has had quite a musical journey.

In subsequent years, as school concerts moved away from any reference to anything considered to be sacred, music teachers began asking me for lyric adaptations that were more generic. Those requests resulted in two variations for this song: Sing Together and Winter, Winter. In addition, the winter version of the song has a B section that is less busy lyrically and easier for younger singers, while still fitting with the original accompaniment. Deo has been around for a long time now and in a variety of forms!

You are invited

When you have enjoyed singing these songs with your students and choirs - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Please send us your performance video - we might be able to post it on this page!

Send us your videos of Deo, Sing Together or Winter, Winter and perhaps we can post them here.

The post Deo / Sing Together / Winter, Winter appeared first on Donna & Andy.

It’s Christmas Time + It’s Winter Time

Andy Duinker — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 16:29:30 +0000

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It's Christmas Time

It's Winter Time

by Donna Rhodenizer

Audio & Lyrics

Follow along with the lyrics as you listen to the accompaniment with melody guide for It's Christmas Time & It's Winter Time.

Part of a song collection

It's Christmas Time is one of 11 songs from the award-winning song collection It's Christmas Time. Donna Rhodenizer has written these songs in a variety of styles and skill levels in both French and English for singers age 5-12+.

Learn more about this fun collection for elementary-aged kids, choirs and solo vocal students. The 146-page book provides the vocal score, full score and separate lyrics pages for 11 songs. Enjoy!

Please note: audio tracks for the e-book version are sold separately. Print copies of the book include CD (24 tracks)

It's Christmas Time song collection is also available on Amazon.

Stream and purchase audio tracks

Stream or Purchase the It's Christmas Time tracks from many streaming sites including: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Deezer.

Donna & Andy have yet to record It's Winter Time.

The It's Christmas Time CD and tracks (Donna & Andy performance and instrumental tracks - 22) are available for download or physical CD on this website.

Teaching Tips

Use this song to work on expressive singing.
Discuss the necessity of clear diction to present the text in the rapidly moving eighth note sections.
In a choral setting, use staggered breathing to accommodate the long, uninterrupted phrases indicated in the music.
Solo singers need to plan breathing spots that will satisfy the need to breathe while accommodating the flow of the phrases. Add breath marks to the score to assist with consistent practice.
When working on the long phrases, have singers move their hand in an arc to show the shape of the phrases.
Decide what to do during the instrumental verse. In addition to the option of including a solo instrument, this section can include gentle movement using scarves or humming the melody line.
If using an accompanist (rather than the recorded instrumental track) it is also acceptable to skip the instrumental section from rehearsal letter D – rehearsal letter E.

Colouring page - download

Download (pdf), print and have fun colouring this page while you listen to the song It's Christmas Time.

See more free colouring pages below

Composer's Notes

It's Christmas Time

I have been inspired to write many of my compositions to fill repertoire needs for my students throughout the school year. I wrote this song for one of the many, many school Christmas concerts I planned and presented with my elementary school students. It is a lot of work to put on a school concert with over 500 students, but it was one of my favourite things to do during my 35-year career as a music education specialist. The grade 4-5 elementary choir was the group that took on this challenging piece of music with its plethora of lyrics and quickly moving eighth note passages that required extra attention to diction. I am pleased to recall that they did a super job at the concert. As the years progressed, Christmas concerts often included more winter-themed songs to accommodate students who didn’t celebrate Christmas. New lyrics were created and “It’s Winter Time” found its way into concert rotation. I am always pleased to offer my teaching colleagues options so that my music is as versatile and useful as possible. Giving teachers the option to choose either Christmas or winter lyrics is one way to offer this versatility.

In 2006, when recording our Donna & Andy CD: It’s Christmas Time, my son Benjamin and Andy’s niece, Oriana played French horns for this song. These two young players did such a super job adding that magical horn sound to our recording. It has a special place in my heart as one of my favourite Christmas songs.

You're Invited

When you have enjoyed singing these songs with your students - please drop by again and leave a Review on this page. Thanks!

Send us your video of It's Christmas Time or It's Winter Time and perhaps we can post it here.

Free - download coloring pages for lots of Christmas Fun!

Free Download - 3 Christmas Coloring Pages

The post It’s Christmas Time + It’s Winter Time appeared first on Donna & Andy.