Before the ice is in the pools (2021)
Notes
For choir (SATB divisi.)
Composed for the Bach Choir
First performance by the Bach Choir
at Cadogan Hall, December 20, 2021
Winner of the Sir David Willcocks Carol Composition Competition 2021
Text: Before the ice is in the pools by Emily Dickinson
Duration: 7 minutes
Before the ice is in the pools is a contemplative carol that sets an enchanted tone for the Christmas season. With constant attention to the text by Emily Dickinson, the composition encapsulates the quiet wonder of winter. Written at the age of seventeen, the carol is one of Christopher's earliest performed works.
37
Before the ice is in the pools —
Before the skaters go,
Or any check at nightfall
Is tarnished by the snow —
Before the fields have finished,
Before the Christmas tree,
Wonder upon wonder
Will arrive to me!
Emily Dickinson