In the Bleak Midwinter

For the film, see In the Bleak Midwinter (film). For the novel, see In the Bleak Midwinter (novel).

Christina Rossetti, portrait by her brother, Dante Gabriel Rossetti

"In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti. It was published under the title "A Christmas Carol" in the January 1872 issue of Scribner's Monthly , ^{[1] [2]} and first collected in book form in Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress and Other Poems (Macmillan, 1875).

It has been set to music several times. Two settings, those by Gustav Holst and by Harold Darke, are popular and often sung as Christmas carols. Holst's is a hymn tune called Cranham, published in 1906 in The English Hymnal and simple enough to be sung by a congregation. ^[3] Darke's is an anthem composed in 1909 and intended for a trained choir; it was named the best Christmas carol in a 2008 poll of leading choirmasters and choral experts. ^[4]

Analysis

A Christmas Carol

In the bleak mid-winter   Frosty wind made moan Earth stood hard as iron,   Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow,   Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter   Long ago. Our God, heaven cannot hold Him   Nor earth sustain, Heaven and earth shall flee away   When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter   A stable-place sufficed The Lord God Almighty —   Jesus Christ. Enough for Him, whom cherubim   Worship night and day, A breastful of milk   And a mangerful of hay; Enough for Him, whom Angels   Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel   Which adore.

Angels and Archangels   May have gathered there, Cherubim and seraphim   Thronged the air; But only His Mother   In her maiden bliss Worshipped the Beloved   With a kiss. What can I give Him,   Poor as I am? — If I were a Shepherd   I would bring a lamb; If I were a Wise Man   I would do my part, — Yet what I can I give Him, —   Give my heart.

Christina Rossetti,(1872)

In verse one, Rossetti describes the physical circumstances of the Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem. In verse two, Rossetti contrasts Christ's first and second coming.

The third verse dwells on Christ's birth and describes the simple surroundings, in a humble stable and watched by beasts of burden. Rossetti achieves another contrast in the fourth verse, this time between the incorporeal angels attendant at Christ's birth with Mary's ability to render Jesus physical affection. The final verse shifts the description to a more introspective thought process.

Literary critics have questioned a number of aspects of Rossetti's poem. Professor of Historical Theology, John Mulder, with his coauthor and fellow Presbyterian minister, F. Morgan Roberts, have noted that the reference to winter weather in the title and first verse is incongruous with its geographical setting in the hot climate of Judea. They note that, "Although not unheard of, snow in Palestine is rare", and that Rossetti was writing at a time when popular literary works such as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) had established the strong association of snow with Christmas in the English mind. ^[5] Musicologist C. Michael Hawn, however, asserts that Rossetti is not implying that snow literally fell in Palestine, but that the wintry conditions described are a metaphor for a "harsh spiritual landscape" experienced at the time of Christ's birth, referring to the political oppression of Jews during the Roman occupation of Palestine. ^[6]

Hymnologist and theologian Ian Bradley has questioned the poem's theology: "Is it right to say that heaven cannot hold God, nor the earth sustain, and what about heaven and earth fleeing away when he comes to reign?", which he considers not justified by scripture. He concedes that the image of a heaven unable to contain God, could be read as a "bold and original attempt to express the mysterious paradox at the heart of the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation". ^{[7] [8]}

Several writers have conversely pointed to scriptural precedent for the lines that Bradley finds questionable. ^{[9] [10]}

Mulder and Roberts have commented that Rossetti's lines "Heaven and earth shall flee away, When He comes to reign" accord with the apocalyptic account of the second coming in Revelation 21:1: ^[a] "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." ^[5]

Guidance on the hymn, provided by the Methodist Church UK for their churches, notes that Solomon asks a similarly-phrased question in 1 Kings 8:27: ^[b] "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you ..." when he dedicates the temple. It also points to 2 Peter 3:10–11 ^[c] as New Testament support for the phrase "heaven and earth shall flee away": ^[11]

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.

— 2 Peter 3:10

Settings

The text of this Christmas poem has been set to music many times. Two of the most famous settings were composed by Gustav Holst and Harold Darke in the early 20th century.

Holst

"Cranham", by Gustav Holst

Holst's setting, Cranham, is a hymn tune setting suitable for congregational singing, since the poem is irregular in metre and any setting of it requires a skilful and adaptable tune. ^[9] The hymn is titled after Cranham, Gloucestershire and was written for the English Hymnal of 1906. ^{[12] [3]}

Darke

The Darke setting was written in 1909 while he was a student at the Royal College of Music. Although melodically similar, it is more advanced; each verse is treated slightly differently, with solos for soprano and tenor (or a group of sopranos and tenors) and a delicate organ accompaniment. ^[7] This version is favoured by cathedral choirs and is the one usually heard performed on the radio broadcasts of Nine Lessons and Carols by the King's College Choir. Darke served as conductor of the choir during World War II. ^[13]

Darke's popular 1909 setting of In the Bleak Midwinter performed by the choir of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Indianapolis

Darke omits verse four of Rossetti's original, and bowdlerizes Rossetti's "a breastful of milk" to "a heart full of mirth", ^[14] although later editions reversed this change. Darke also repeats the last line of the final verse. Darke would complain, however, that the popularity of this tune prevented people from performing his other compositions, and rarely performed it outside of Christmas services. ^[15]

In 2016, the Darke setting was used in a multitrack rearrangement of the song by music producer Jacob Collier. It features contemporary compositional techniques such as microtonality. ^[16]

Other settings

As first published in Scribner's Monthly (January 1872)

Benjamin Britten includes an elaborate five-part setting of the first verse for high voices (combined with the medieval Corpus Christi Carol ) in his work A Boy was Born .

Other settings include those by Robert C. L. Watson, Bruce Montgomery, Bob Chilcott, Michael John Trotta, ^[17] Robert Walker, ^[18] Eric Thiman, who wrote a setting for solo voice and piano, and Leonard Lehrman. ^[19]

See also

• List of Christmas carols

Notes

Biblical verses cited

1. Revelation 21:1
2. 1 Kings 8:27
3. 2 Peter 3:10–11

References

1. Petersen, Randy (2014). Be Still, My Soul: The Inspiring Stories behind 175 of the Most-Loved Hymns. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. p. 145. ISBN   9781414388427 . Retrieved 4 October 2019.
2. Rossetti, Christina G. (January 1872). "A Christmas Carol". Scribner's Monthly. iii (3). New York: Scribner & Co.: 278.
3. "Shnugget: Carols at Cranham". BBC News. 6 January 2009. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
4. "'Bleak Midwinter' named best carol". BBC News. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
5. Mulder, John M.; Roberts, F. Morgan (13 October 2015). 28 Carols to Sing at Christmas . Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 66. ISBN   978-1-4982-0682-2. The theology of 'In the Bleak Midwinter' has been questioned. Ian Bradley ... has written '[...] ... earth perhaps, but is heaven going to flee at the second coming?' A worthy question perhaps but one ignorant of the biblical vision of John of Patmos  ... (Rev 21:1)
6. Hawn, C. Michael (2020). "Hymnody in the Global South". In Lamport, Mark A.; Forrest, Benjamin; Whaley, Vernon M. (eds.). Hymns and Hymnody: Historical and Theological Introductions, Volume 3. James Clark & Co. pp. 276–7. ISBN   978-0-227-17722-8 . Retrieved 27 October 2024.
7. Christiansen, Rupert (14 December 2007). "The story behind the carol: 'In the bleak midwinter'". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
8. Bradley, Ian C. (1999). "38 'In the Bleak Mid-winter'" . The Penguin Book of Carols. New York: Penguin. pp. 154–157. ISBN   978-0-14-027526-1. p. 154: The fact is, of course, that this is not the sort of text that bears or warrants detailed exegesis and analysis. It is a mystical offering by a Victorian poet justly famous for her devotional verse. [...] The image of God as the one that heaven cannot hold could, in fact, be read as a bold and original attempt to express the mysterious paradox at the heart of the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation.
9. Beall, Mary Kay (Autumn 2005). "Hymn Interpretation: 'In the Bleak Midwinter'" (PDF). The Hymn . Vol. 56, no. 4. pp. 47–49. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022.
10. Mann, Rachel (2 August 2019). "Christmas Day". In the Bleak Midwinter: Advent and Christmas with Christina Rossetti. Canterbury Press. ISBN   978-1-78622-162-9.
11. "The Resource Hub: Hymns – 'In the Bleak Midwinter' (StF 204)". The Methodist Church UK.
12. The English Hymnal. Oxford University Press. 1916. p. 44.
13. "'In The Bleak Midwinter'". Hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
14. Wooton, Janet (7 January 2013). This Is Our Song: Women's Hymn-Writing. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. p. 143. ISBN   9781620321294.
15. Galaxy Music Corporation: 'In the Bleak Midwinter' by Harold Darke arr. Ronald Arnatt
16. "7 pop songs that deploy microtones ingeniously". Classic FM. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
17. "Michael John Trotta's setting", YouTube, 11 November 2011, archived from the original on 21 December 2021
18. "Catalogue of Works: Unaccompanied Vocal and Choral". Robert Walker.net. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Archived 24 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
19. "'In the bleak midwinter' (Rossetti, set by Harold Edwin Darke, Gustav Holst, Bruce Montgomery, Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman, Michael John Trotta, Mick Swithinbank, Stephen Wilkinson, Benjamin Britten)". Lieder.net. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2015.

External links

• In the Bleak Midwinter for SATB (sheet music), Cantorion (free).
• In the Bleak Midwinter for SATB (Harold Darke setting) (sheet music), Choral Public Domain Library .