In The Bleak Midwinter SATB A Cappella (Octavo) Book

In the bleak midwinter is a setting for four-part choir of the famous poem by Christina Rossetti. This poem came to mind when I was walking down a Cornish lane on a cold, bleak November day, and I began to put the words to music as I walked. I was a little hesitant to write a setting of this text in the light of other much loved versions, but I felt inspired so decided to go for it!

An atmosphere of cold, winter stillness is conveyed in this piece with its gentle dissonances and slow, homophonic movement, and the music follows the natural rhythm of the words, resulting in frequent changes of bar-length. Each verse is set to the same music, but in the final verse the music responds to the climax of the poem, with the words ‘give my heart’ repeated three times, rising in intensity but then falling away again to finish as the piece began, in quiet stillness. A natural shape and line to each phrase should be led by the text, with subtle shading off and no hurrying at the end of lines. Likewise, the poem's punctuation should guide breathing. Overall, a sense of space should prevail but without the tempo dragging.