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TEXT
Christina Rossetti, 1872
Rosetti wrote the poem as a response to a call for a Christmas poem from the magazine Scribner’s Monthly, and was first published there. The original text has 5 stanzas but many hymnals only include 4 (omitting the middle stanza). The full text can be found here.
TUNE
CRANHAM, Gustav Holst, 1906
The tune was first paired with the text in 1906 in The English Hymnal. Cranhamn is a village in Gloucestershire. Holst is a 20th century composer well known for his work The Planets.
TIDBITS
Hymn history by hymnologist C. Michael Hawn of UMC Discipleship Ministries
Christina Rossetti’s collection Sing-Song is the selected poetry for AmblesideOnline’s Year 2, Term 3.
Solfa Lesson: Bec Stewart
Sources:
Hawn, C. Michael. “History of Hymns: ‘In the Bleak Midwinter.’” Discipleship Ministries. The United Methodist Church. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
“In the Bleak Midwinter.”Cyberhymnal.org. CyberHymnal. Web. 21 Oct. 2016.
Share a comment with your favorite recorded version or other resources for this hymn.
Did you know James Taylor recorded a version of In The Bleak Midwinter? Available to listen to on Spotify as a bonus track on his album James Taylor At Christmas. Not quite “bleak” but You’ve Got A Friend in James Taylor.