Christmas Song Story: In the Bleak Midwinter

In the Bleak Midwinter is based on a poem by Christina Rossetti, an English poet.

The poem was published in the January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly under the title “A Christmas Carol”.

The 1906 English Hymnal first published the poem set to music by Gustav Holst.

In 1911, Harold Darke wrote a more complex anthem which is often used and voted in 2008 by as the best Christmas carol by choirmasters and choral experts.

While these are the two best known melodies, numerous other melodies have been written to the poem.