Niall Campbell’s short and simple poem immediately conjures up a mood of winter, cosiness, warmth, love and hope. This could be used for Christmas or in The New Year. The simple tune with some lush harmonies is straight-forward with the melody moving between voices and finally building to a climax before a gentle ending. The instructions at the beginning say it all: Tender and flexible, not too fast. The approach should be of a gentle, warm, pure sound with little vibrato. Good matching vowel sounds and blend are paramount, as with all choral singing. Flexibility in dynamics, tempi, rubati and breathing are key. All markings are in the score. Care should be taken with the upward leap of the 4th on the repeating refrain Look here so that the ‘E’ vowel on ‘here’ does not stick out, is not too bright and is part of the arch of the continuous phrase. A very hushed verse 3 leads to a change of mood in verse 4 with more excitement, optimism and a ‘smile’ in the voice. The last 3 bars need good control to go from ff to a p ending. The ‘t’ of the word ‘brightening’ needs to be heard but not overdone. Also, the closed ‘ing’ sound of ‘brightening’ also needs to be clear, most especially at the ends of phrases/verses and the last note. Listen to the wonderful recording by the BBC Singers on the BBC 2022 Carol Competition website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0dnn46b For flexible use, this carol comes arranged for both SATB or 2 Part Upper Voices with either piano or organ accompaniment.