Come and Behold Him, a Christmas Cantata

SATB or SAB with Soloists, Narrators, and Piano

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Now available in an SAB edition, this 2010 cantata includes four brand-new choral pieces, two choral arrangements of familiar Christmas hymns, and narrated piano solos that shine new light on some old tunes.

A note for Christians who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The doctrines taught in these songs are about the birth, ministry and atonement of Christ.  We can all agree on those doctrines. Much of the narration is taken directly from the King James Version of the Bible.  One section of the narration mentions prophets on the American continent who foretold the birth of Christ.  This refers to the account found in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.  If you do not accept this concept, you are free to use this cantata, omitting that part of the narration.  Please do not dismiss this work as a Mormons-only affair — at Christmas, we can agree, regardless of our denomination, that the Holy Spirit testifies powerfully of Jesus.  This cantata is inspired by that Spirit.

Currently, this page includes downloads for the entire score and a MIDI/mp3 recording of the whole score in one file.  Sheet music and rehearsal mp3s for selected individual songs are also available.  The MIDI files are faster to download, but the quality of the mp3s will make for a more pleasant listening experience. Live recordings of selected pieces are also available on the individual pages associated with those songs. Click on the song title to find them.

Available Files

Most commercially published cantatas cost 10-15 dollars per copy. If you use this piece, you may desire to make a contribution of any amount to keep this site running. Just click here. Thanks.

Full Score Files:

Program Order and Performance Times:

(Click on a song title to access single-piece sheet music and live performance recordings.)

Supplemental Files:

Different versions of specific songs can be found on their individual pages, accessible through the links above. Notably, an SATB version of Invitation is available for choirs without the capacity for a 4-part men’s piece.
The full score follows the common practice of writing the tenor line on a treble staff with a small numeral 8 below the clef, meaning that the notes should be sung an octave below the pitches noted.  This only occurs where the score splits into four vocal staves.  For tenors who prefer to read their lines in the bass clef, the file below replaces the four pages in the full score where this occurs:

Published by

NathanHoweMusic

Nathan Howe is a Colorado composer, performer, and teacher. If you enjoy the free music available on this website, please share it with friends, commission a composition, or make a donation. Thank you!

13 thoughts on “Come and Behold Him, a Christmas Cantata”

  1. Nate!!!! I am going to try to do this with my choir for Christmas! Now that I actually have all four voice parts most of the time we can do stuff like this!! Yay!!!! 🙂

  2. Thank you very much for this great service to all of us. It is such a great thing to share your talents with all of us and not be greedy about it. We are in the Mormon Colonies in Mexico. It is hard to get good music. I will be using the O Night in our sacrament meeting program for Christmas. I think it is very beautiful and shows your talent. Thank you again for your kindness to us by sharing your gifts with us.

    1. Carol, thanks for your kind words and for using the music I write. As always, I’m also looking for input on what kinds of music you would like to see here next.

  3. We just did Come and Behold Him for Sacrament Meeting today, and it worked beautifully. It was well received and the choir really enjoyed it once they got into learning it. Thank you. I’m looking for more SATB music that we can use with the ward choir.

  4. Nathan, we performed this beautiful cantata for Sacrament Meeting yesterday and it was wonderful. Thank you for sharing your talents!! I wish I could find a non-midi recording of a great choral performance of this.

    1. Thanks so much for using the cantata, Stephanie! If anybody out there has recorded their performances of this cantata, I would be glad to post the files here.

  5. Nathan: This is a beautiful work, and you are correct that it should not be limited by denominational boundaries. Have you considered orchestrating it? Wonder how it might work with a small ensemble; perhaps string quartet and oboe or harp… Best wishes, Dr. Stan McDaniel, Minister of Music, Opportunity Presbyterian, Spokane, WA

    1. Dr. McDaniel, I would love to orchestrate this cantata. It might not be possible in time for this Christmas (I’m trying to finish a Master’s degree by February), but it’s definitely on my list. Thanks for your kind words!

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