SATB and Piano

When to-night, the shining snow

Fell on forest brown and lea,

Hanging diamonds on the tree;—

When the dazzling world below

Lifted up, all brilliantly,

Stars again, to stars to throw;—

Then I thought of thee . . . !

White the winter forests sweep

Down to meet the midnight sea,

Dearest, break thy charmèd sleep,

Dream a winter dream of me.

—Marie Louise Van Vorst (1 867–1 936) in p ublic domain

Program note:

“A Winter Dream” is an accessible work for mixed chorus and piano. The piano introduces an ostinato figure

that serves as a metaphor for cyclical processes, both the turning of the seasons and the recurrence of dreams

each night. While the arpeggiated pattern undergoes subtle variation over time, its pitch content remains

largely fixed, reinforcing a sense of continuity and stasis. The work opens with a unison statement of the

principal melody, which is subsequently passed among the voice parts. Although the melody itself remains

constant, its presentation continually evolves: textures shift, different voices assume prominence, and choral

pairings are reconfigured. This treatment mirrors the nature of winter: an enduring presence that nonetheless

appears in ever-changing forms. Alternatively, the music may suggest that winter itself is constant, while it is

we, as humans, who change in our experience of it.