for unaccompanied SATB choir
Upper and lower voices are divided into two distinct choral ‘worlds’ in this setting of William Wordsworth's poem.
The sopranos and altos narrate Wordsworth’s majestic text while tenors and basses take on the role of minstrels playing ’their Christmas tune’. In performance, it may be preferable to have physical space between the two groups but this should not be seen as obligatory. The lower voices, in so far that it is achievable, should aim to create a sense of a strummed guitar, and their tone should be sotto voce throughout. The much more prominent upper voices should provide shape and contrast within the strophic format. Above all else, the storytelling of the text must always be clearly conveyed to the audience.
