Winter, Snow – Carol Barnett

Composer: Carol Barnett Text by: Carol Barnett and Edward Thomas (1878-1917) Instrumentation: SSA and piano Duration: Approx. 3'30" Date Written:  2004 Composer’s note: It was hard to find the perfect text for this 2005-2006 Minnesota All-State Women’s Choir commission. I tried writing words to fit the bright B major chords I was hearing, but only got as far as three lines about winter. Then I found the lovely “Snow” by the Edwardian British poet Edward Thomas and decided to contrast the cold brightness of my lyrics with the soft snowy whiteness of Thomas’s lines. The result is an other-worldly little waltz for treble voices and piano. Text Winter, Snow Winter, bright light, Cold flame of renewal, Music of ice. -Carol Barnett In the gloom of whiteness, In the great silence of snow, A child was sighing And bitterly saying: “Oh, They have killed a white bird up there on her nest, The down is fluttering from her breast!” And still it fell through the dusky brightness On the child crying f