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Music for Orchestra

Winter Night, from Three Small Tone Poems

Frederick Delius

General Information

  • Year of Composition: 1890
  • Difficulty: Grade IV
  • Duration: c. 5:30​
  • Form: Tone Poem

Instrumentation

  • Piccolo (also plays Flute III)
  • Flute I-II
  • Oboe I-II
  • Bassoon I-II
  • B-flat Clarinet I-II
    • A Clarinet part also available
  • B-flat Trumpet I-II
  • Horn in F I-II-III-IV
  • Trombone I-II-III
  • Tuba
  • Timpani
  • Percussion
    • Sleigh Bells
    • Crash Cymbal
  • Violin I-II
  • Viola
  • Violoncello
  • Contrabass​

Purchase Options


Look/Listen

Program Note

Winter Night, originally known as "Sleigh Ride," is one of a series of short tone poems that focuses on the four seasons, the others being "Summer Evening," "Spring Morning," and "Autumn," though this last tone poem remains undiscovered, and is only known because of documentation confirming that it once existed. The piece began life as a piano work, composed while Delius was a student in Leipzig. The original score contains the following note (translated from German):

On Christmas eve, I stood outside in the open air, while the moon shone brightly over the rolling landscape. In the distance one could hear the sound of an approaching sleigh, but it soon passed by and disappeared, until gradually, the night was again still, bright, and peaceful.

Editor's Note

This edition is a digital engraving of the work. Errata, where present in the original, have been corrected in this version. The original Clarinet in A part has been transposed into B-flat (though a Clarinet in A part is still provided). The original work also had two trumpet plus two cornet parts (both pitched in A). While many passages were simply doublings, some contained 4-part harmony. In many cases, these "extra" notes were already accounted for in other brass instruments, but in the few instances where this was not the case, the notes have been resolved into horn or trombone parts to account for the pitches within the harmony.

If any errata are discovered, please email the editor, and updated/corrected parts will be sent. 
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Nikk Pilato | ​Cincinnati, Ohio

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