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Dominick DiOrio
Dominick DiOrio (DD3 Publications)
Woods in Winter
A secular madrigal for winter – great for teaching syncopated rhythm and mixed meter.
SATB (divisi) a cappella
Commissioned by the Winchester High School Choirs and Christopher Nickelson, director.
Composer’s Notes
“Woods in Winter” was written at the request of my dear friend Chris Nickelson for his outstanding high school choruses at Winchester High School in Winchester, MA. The work is based upon a poem of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and evokes a still winter scene, without any hint of the religious overtones that usually accompany much winter music. The work is dedicated fondly to Chris.
– Dominick DiOrio, July 2010
Text
When winter winds are piercing chill,
And through the hawthorn blows the gale,
With solemn feet I tread the hill,
That overbrows the lonely vale.
O’er the bare upland, and away
Through the long reach of desert woods,
The embracing sunbeams chastely play,
And gladden these deep solitudes.
Where, twisted round the barren oak,
The summer vine in beauty clung,
And summer winds the stillness broke,
The crystal icicle is hung.
Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs
Pour out the river’s gradual tide,
Shrilly the skater’s iron rings,
And voices fill the woodland side.
Alas! how changed from the fair scene,
When birds sang out their mellow lay,
And winds were soft, and woods were green,
And the song ceased not with the day!
But still wild music is abroad,
Pale, desert woods! within your crowd;
And gathering winds, in hoarse accord,
Amid the vocal reeds pipe loud.
Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear
Has grown familiar with your song;
I hear it in the opening year,
I listen, and it cheers me long.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
$1.50 per licensed PDF
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