The Snow It Melts The Soonest – Sheet Music

The origins of this English folk song can be traced back to 1821, but it might be older. The opening bars have a wintry stillness about them. Soprano 2 has the original tune in the first verse. In the middle two verses the tune is shared between each voice part (you might want to try teaching the tune by itself as it passes from one voice to the next to achieve a seamless thread of lyrics). Whilst this is happening the accompanying parts must sustain their lines to achieve an unwavering backdrop to the words. In the final verse all 3 parts carry the words in a homophonic texture and the narrative reaches a dramatic climax with some “crunchy chords”!

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