Santa the Barbarian - Young Band

Santa the Barbarian for Concert Band by Randal D. Standridge, Grade 1.5

As I have stated before, I often suffer from an overactive imagination. This is not precisely true, as I don’t really suffer…I enjoy all of the strange ideas that my mind comes up with. And I have the perfect ace in the hole, too, as any time someone asks me to explain myself, I simply say, “I’m artistic.” But, I digress…

During my career as a composer, I have written a multitude of Christmas works. These are always quite challenging, as you have two factors working against from the outset. One, you are dealing with a very limited amount of recognizable material, as you can only use works that are in the public domain, and two, you are writing in an over-populated genre in which almost every conceivable combination of holiday tunes has been plumbed to death. The challenge, then, is to find a new angle that puts a different spin on well loved holiday classics.

Enter Santa the Barbarian.

In this work, I have reimagined the jolly old elf as a warrior of the winter wastes. The familiar tunes of Up on the Housetop and Jingle Bells are transformed into a war cry for this incarnation of Santa, as he navigates the snowy desert with his eight mighty reign-deer: Basher, Danger, Lancer, Victim, Bomb-it, Brutis, Runner, and Blitz-Them. On Christmas night, he fights his way across the unforgiving terrain in time to bring toys to all the good children, leaving a path of destruction and candy cane carnage in his wake.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from me to you and yours!!