Sleigh Ride* (Winter Night)

Sleigh Ride (Winter Night) by Frederick Delius
Arranged for Flute Choir by Nancy Nourse
Scored for Piccolo (doubling on flute), 4 C Flutes, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, optional Contrabass Flute and Sleigh Bells
Includes score and parts

*This is not Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride!! 

Although Delius’ Sleigh Ride remains a lesser-known work from his student days, its simplicity and emotional responsiveness illuminate the journey of poetic expressiveness that the composer was to follow through his life. In this delightful miniature, not only is there the crisp tingle of the pure, cold air and the rhythmic pulse of the equestrian trot experienced, but a wide range of emotional expressions. These require the fluid transition from the light rhythmic opening ostenato to the simple, melodic four bar phrasing of the Andante or the thicker, romantic chromaticism of the harmony at the a tempo of bar 68. This short tone-poem needs good attention to clarity, so that the simplicity of the emotions and their transitions are able to shine through. The ending must come to a peaceful conclusion of quietude.