First snow of the year

‘First snow of the year’ was commissioned by Kokopelli Choirs, Edmonton, AB, for their December 2019 concert, “Winter Song.”

Canadian musician Hawksley Workman is one of my favourite performers, and his album Almost a full moon is always on heavy rotation as soon as the first snow falls. I have many treasured memories of special times and dear friends associated with this album, and song “First snow of the year” starts playing itself automatically each year when I see those first few flakes in the air or wake up to find the world covered in white. And so, when I was asked to write or arrange something to close the Kokopelli Choirs Wintersong concert, I thought this would be a fantastically fun song to arrange for choir in a mash-up style with some other Christmas carols!

The arrangement opens with a quote from Sleigh-Ride over which the choir sings a building chord on the word “snow” that I hope performers and audience members will recognize from the movie White Christmas.

Workman’s song is the main feature of this arrangement, but several snow-inspired Christmas carols figure prominently, the most prominent being Sleigh-Ride, It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and The Christmas Waltz.  I’ve also taken the liberty of “updating” a few of the traditional lyrics, so that both “Katy and Ben” can enjoy “hop-along boots and a pistol that shoots” and “Scott and Jen” might want a “doll than can talk” not to mention that perhaps neither “Mom and Dad” nor “Mom and Mom” nor “Dad and Dad” “can hardly wait for school to start again.” I’ve also mixed together some of Workman’s lyrics into Baby it’s cold outside to put a new spin on this controversial Christmas song…in this version, the same singers sing: “I really can’t stay, and it’s prob’ly just as well….but baby, it’s cold outside.” I absolutely encourage performers to highlight these moments and any others with some actions if they so choose – have all the fun!

I’ve tried to keep this arrangement feeling familiar to anyone who knows Workman’s album, and have endeavoured to capture the piano playing of Workman’s incredible keyboardist, Mr. Lonely (Todd Lumley) in the piano accompaniment. I really encourage all performers to have a listen to Hawksley Workman’s recording of First snow of the year (or do yourself a favour and listen to the whole Almost a full moon album!) to get a sense of the style and of the piano playing. Performers may want to add some sleigh-bells or other percussion…go for it! Above all else, have a lot of fun with this arrangement!!