"A Christmas Carol: In the Bleak Mid-Winter" [Joel Martinson]

"A Christmas Carol: In the Bleak Mid-Winter" [Joel Martinson]

First line of lyrics: In the bleak mid-winter

Part of: "Cycle of Light"

Martinson, Joel; music (American, born 1960)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

2003 [copyright]

Oxford: Oxford University Press

genre: carol|Christmas music|sacred music|song|song cycle

solo: voice

instrumentation: piano

initial sharps/flats: no sharps or flats

initial time signature: 3/4

origin: United States

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "A Christmas Carol" ("In the bleak mid-winter")

Place in the larger work: The third song of six in the song cycle called "Cycle of Light," which includes 1. "Cycle of Light" (Delores Dufner); 2. "Shadows and Brightness" (Susan Palo Cherwien); 3. "A Christmas Carol: In the Bleak Mid-Winter" (Christina Rossetti); 4. "Good Friday" (Christina Rossetti); 5. "Morning Has Broken" (Eleanor Farjeon); 6. "Children of the Heavenly Father" (Caroline V. Sandell Berg, trans. Ernst William Olson).

Composition history: "The idea for this compilation came from Norma Aamodt-Nelson, a musician friend who was living in Minnesota in the mid-1990s. [...] Christina Rossetti is my favorite poet from the past, as attested by my four published anthems on her poems in Oxford's catalogue. The juxtaposition of two texts centered around the Christian's response of the heart-the beloved "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" with the poignant and introspective "Good Friday" -provides the cycle's turningpoint from Epiphany to Lent." The third page of the song cycle includes information from the composer on the history of the composition.

Tempo markings: "Gently rocking (a la Sarabande)"; quarter note = 86

Performance instructions: "Cycle of Light is a collection of six sacred songs for the liturgical year based on texts by women, suitable for use separately in worship services or as a complete cycle in recitals."

Dedication: "for David Reece"

Format 1: musical score

4 pages (pp. 8-11); performance time 3 minutes and 50 seconds

Other data reference(s): "Compositions." Joel Martinson Compositions, https://www.joelmartinson.com/compositions/. 27 June 2019.
Record for "Cycle of light : six sacred songs on texts by women poets for medium-low voice and piano /." University of Toronto Libraries, http://go.utlib.ca/cat/8378712. Accessed 22 July 2019.

Cataloguer: Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

musical score: University of Toronto Library at Downsview, Toronto

Record: CRM-christmascarolinthebleak-martinson

"Copyright © 2003, Oxford University Press, Inc."

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