Sarah Quartel - A Winter Day

for SATB (with divisions), cello, and piano This five-movement work celebrates the long Canadian winter, setting texts by the composer, Sara Teasdale, Lucy Maud Montgomery (of 'Anne of Green Gables' fame), and Melville Cane. Each movement depicts a different time of day, beginning with the cold darkness before dawn ('Timid Star') and concluding with the evening turning into dusk and then darkness ('Snow Toward Evening'). The music conjures up vivid images of a cold and crisp winter, and of swirling, dancing snowflakes.

Contents Composer’s

Contents Composer’s note 4 1. Timid Star 5 2. A Winter Dawn 9 3. Into Morning 15 4. A Winter Day 26 for online perusal only 5. Snow Toward Evening 36

Composer’s note A Winter Day was written for the Kingston Chamber Choir, Ontario, Canada. It was inspired by my tremendous affection for the snowy and icy winters I live each year as a resident of this part of the country. Each movement in the work illustrates a different time in a winter day. We begin, with ‘Timid Star’, in the dark stillness before dawn, where ‘a shy white star’ shivers as it shines on frozen fields below. In ‘A Winter Dawn’, colour floods the sky and a triumphant sunrise rings through the music. ‘Into Morning’ takes me back to exciting childhood days out on the land in knee-deep snow, or outings with treasured family members where a great dark horse would pull our sleigh through the nearby woods; the ‘tang of frost’ in ‘A Winter Day’ would leave us refreshed and laughing. As the work comes to a close, so does the day. Stillness returns and falling snow covers any evidence of the day’s activities. The sky returns to darkness once more. I enjoyed every moment of writing this work and am extremely thankful to the Kingston Chamber Choir, the Kingston Arts Council, and the City of Kingston Arts Fund for their tremendous support as I set out to bring my impressions of winter to life in this music. for online perusal only First performed on 28 February 2016 by the Kingston Chamber Choir at St George’s Cathedral, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, conducted by Artistic Director Gordon Sinclair, with Clare Gordon (piano) and Jeff Hamacher (cello). Duration: c.17 minutes Also available: A Winter Day cello part (ISBN 978–0–19–351780–6)