A very well known 19th century Christmas piece, given a different slant with its opening four bar vocal introduction: descending chords from the upper voices singing "Snow, snow" as repeated fortepianos. The four bar pattern before each verse is repeated throughout, in different ways. In verse 3 the split sopranos sing "Say, holy shepherds, say" in syncopation half a beat apart, and continue thus when the altos come in with the melody. The altos and tenors repeat this idea for verse 4’s bass melody, which tells of shepherds watching. The joyful chorus "Hail thou ever blessèd morn" gathers momentum at each repeat.