Come January

"Haunting" is the word that comes to mind when we listen to this Renaissance-flavored piece. Evoking a time long ago, yet familiar still, the lyrics bring our senses into play. We see the snow, feel the cold, smell the fire. We easily imagine the ambiance of winter. That is part of the charm of this song. But the real appeal comes from singing it. Once it is learned, it is positively joyful to sing. Just be certain your singers work with the nuances - dynamics, slurs, phrasing, enunciation, etc., for a musically satisfying result. (You might even consider this one for contest.)

Our favorite version of this madrigal style tune is the 3-part mixed version. However, because we wanted it to be accessible for all of your students, we have made it flexible with many options for performance. Vocally, it works in unison, with two parts only, or with all three parts, as you prefer. The third part is written in a compromise range for lower, changing, and changed voices.

To help you determine what is best for your group, we have recorded several versions. On the Performance/Accompaniment recording, you will hear the full version with instrumental tracks, and then an a cappella version - both with all three parts. The a cappella version is very nice, and can be used for learning or just enjoying. We also put it on our web site so your singers can access it themselves, if they want to. (You will note that the a cappella version has a shorter time in between verses rather than the two bars in the music.) Additionally, we isolated the tracks for all three vocal parts for study purposes and put them online as well. One other online version that might be helpful to you includes parts 1 and 2 only (no part 3) with the background tracks. (See following for details about these online resources.)

Other recordings include the full instrumental tracks and instrumental tracks without recorder (which has a count off so your recorder player can start in measure one). The full tracks feature a real lute, harp, and recorder. You could replace any or all of these with your own live instruments, playing with or without our tracks. The parts are indicated on the piano/vocal. Of course, it is very unlikely you would have your own lute, so you can use a guitar instead. Assuming you might not have a harp either, it could be done using a harp sample on an electronic keyboard.

The recorder part has been extracted and can be found on our website, as well as with the extracted student parts for this issue. (Though this part is probably too difficult for most beginning players, it might be an excellent challenge piece for Recorder Karate, a recorder method available from Plank Road Publishing. See the following box for our web address.)

To further enhance your use of this piece, we have created a downloadable, student reproducible article on the lute. This article can also be found on our web site. See below for details.

Online extras - The free, downloadable extras mentioned can be found under the "Graphics and Extras" for Volume 18, No. 3 at MusicK8.com