for mixed voices (SATB with divisi) a cappella
Text: English (Elinor Wylie)
Duration: c3 minutes
Difficulty: 3/5
Use: Christmas, Winter

Adapted from ‘Velvet Shoes’ by Elinor Wylie, the text of this carol portrays the tranquil, almost eerie, atmosphere of walking alone in fresh snow. The musical setting reflects scenery, with a soaring soprano line and freely flowing melody, which is reharmonised and redirected in each verse to emphasise the nuances of the poetry. Time signatures change frequently to accommodate the natural flow of the text, and the sound world draws on modal, almost folk- like harmonies, with shifting musical colours driven by semitones and swirling chord progressions. The carol ends as quietly as it began, with a soprano solo. 

Text
[We shall] walk in the white snow
In a soundless space;
With footsteps quiet and slow,
At a tranquil pace,
Under veils of white lace.

We shall walk through the still town
In a windless peace;
We shall step upon white down,
[On] silver fleece,
[On] softer than these.

We shall walk in velvet shoes:
Wherever we go
Silence will fall like dews
On white silence below.
We shall walk in the snow.

Adapted from Velvet Shoes
by Elinor Wylie (1885–1928)

Lucy Walker
Lucy Walker is an award-winning composer, pianist and music educator from the North-East of England, currently based in Cambridge. Since completing her postgraduate studies at Gonville & Caius College, where she was a Choral Scholar, in 2021, Lucy has received numerous high-profile commissions. Composing highlights for Lucy so far include her first BBC Radio 3 commission, sung by the BBC Singers, in celebration of International Women’s Day; composing an introit for the first ever Evensong broadcast by the Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge; and, most recently, being appointed Composer-in-Residence with St Martin’s Voices, at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. Lucy’s works have been frequently broadcast on national radio, featured on commercial recordings, and are gaining popularity in performance across Europe and the US. Lucy is passionate about making music, especially choral music, accessible and inclusive, and her compositions aim to reflect this mission.