“Joy” is Matt Johnson’s orchestrated reworking of “Joy To the World.” Traditionally a Christmas carol that was originally titled “Antioch,” Matt chose to focus on various things that bring joy to people’s lives throughout the year and emphasized that perspective in the beautiful video that goes with the piece. In its 4 1/2-minute playing time, the music seamlessly transitions into several playing styles from smooth and serene to upbeat and jazzy by way of an interesting assortment of instruments and rhythms. It begins with strings, bells, harp, percussion and horns in a fairly traditional setting. The second verse changes keys and has some interesting variations in the melody. Strings lead the way along with piano, orchestral instruments and drums. The third verse also changes keys, picking up the tempo and becoming much more “joyful” and playful. The last section picks up the tempo some more with a trumpet leading the group before it all calms down briefly before a big happy finish.

The score for the piece is also available and includes parts for C, Bb and Eb instruments as well as piano accompaniment. The parts can be played and performed with piano or TRAX accompaniment. (Sheet music for solo piano is not YET available but might be at some point.) There is a performance track available on YouTube. There is also a YouTube video with the scrolling score to follow while the music is playing.

“Joy” is available to stream and download on Amazon and Apple Music/iTunes as well as on many streaming services including Spotify and Pandora. The various YouTube videos are listed below. This is a very expressive addition to anyone’s collection of the Christmas music!