VocalEssence Chorus & Ensemble Singers; Chamber orchestra; Charles Gray, viola; Louis Porter, narrator

The poem, “See, Amid The Winter’s Snow,” also known as “Hymn
For Christmas Day,” was written by Edward Caswall (1814–1878),
an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer who converted to Roman
Catholicism. He was born at Yateley, Hampshire, July 15, 1814, the
son of Rev. R. C. Caswall, sometime Vicar of Yately. He died at the
Oratory, Edgbaston, near Birmingham, January 2, 1878 and was
buried at Rednal, near Bromsgrove.
Caswall studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, graduating in 1836
with honors. He was curate of Stratford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury,
1840–47. In 1850, his wife having died the previous year, he joined
the Oratory of St. Philip Neri under Cardinal John Newman, to
whose influence his conversion to Roman Catholicism was due.
Caswell is best known for his translations from the Roman breviary
and other Latin sources, which are marked by faithfulness to the
original and purity of rhythm.
The simple structure of Caswall’s poem “See, Amid The Winter’s
Snow,” from which the words for my carol are excerpted, provided
a welcome framework upon which to try my hand at creating a
Christmas carol, as all my previous efforts in approaching the genre
have been as an arranger. Caswell’s careful, measured language
suggested some melodic contours as well as some textual word-
painting here and there. The warm and lustrous sound of the viola as
a solo instrument suggested to me a lush harmonic language for the
choral verses alternating, for the most part, with the viola as a solo
voice to introduce each section with a sort of commentary on what
is to follow. Finally, for me the music of the Christmas season that
resonates the most are those pieces which are simple in structure,
reflective in nature, and offer both the listener and performer a sense
of proportion, balance and a conduit to an inner peacefulness and
quiet joy. —Robert Sieving