“‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”, Traditional French Canadian Carol for Euphonium Quartet, arranged by Sarah Houle, 2021.
Based on an old French folk tune, this arrangement elaborates on the traditional hymn tune, sometimes known as “The Huron Carol”, except I wanted to make it considerably more musically interesting instead of just chunky block chord progressions.
The tune embodies the cold and stillness of winter. The melodic line is very much like “O Come Emmanuel” in that it can float over a pedal note drone. There isn’t much of a static pedal drone note in this arrangement. Instead, individual parts often enter on harmonic tones that sometimes linger just long enough to create a crystalline dissonance in the music. The sound of bitter cold and dark nights.
Though this is only an instrumental, it can be mentioned that the text for the lyrics to this melody were written by a French missionary in the 1600s and have many Native American references. The purpose of this text was no doubt to aid in converting the Huron to Christianity as a part of the cultural genocide carried out by Europeans during colonization. Hidden within the tune is also a deep sadness indicative of past atrocities.
So, new lyrics reflecting the reason for the season are in order. “Twas in the moon of wintertime, when all the birds had fled, the mighty Gitchi Manitou watched the earth and said, “O, longest night upon the land, the day will break and turn the hand. The southern winds shall rush the plain and all the birds return again.”
Euphonious Music 