This short carol is the first piece of music  I ever wrote for choir, in the fall of 2020. 

I had just started seriously studying composition that semester, and was eager to try my hand at choral writing. Fall was turning to winter, and I felt rather in the mood to write something to fit the season. After some scavenging online I came upon this charming poem by Margaret E. Sangster, and luckily it fit the Delius/Warlock inspired melody I had begun composing in my head during that time. 

While this piece bears traces of my inexperience at thetime, and stronger still, the traces of my then inspiration, Peter Warlock, it is still dear to me as it started me on my path of choral writing; a path I tread gladly to this day, and hope to walk for many years to come. 

So yes, while the text-setting is perhaps clunky at times, and the tessitura a bit high for the poor tenors and sopranos, I hope that whoever finds this piece finds in it some semblance of its original intent; a light, comforting piece of music, an innocent love letter to the winter-season.

 -Oskar Österling, 2023