SKU: A0.923935

2017 Holiday Contest Entry

Walking in the Air

Words and Music by Howard Blake

Arranged by George March for Clarinet Fusion, a San Francisco Bay Area clarinet choir

Walking in the Air was written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film of Raymond Briggs' children's book The Snowman. This tune was arranged for Clarinet Fusion’s 2015 holiday season performances, but was not debuted until early 2017 and was well received. This is a perfect tune for your winter or holiday program, but can also programmed for any time of the year.

This intermediate level arrangement is scored for a 9-piece clarinet choir with parts for: Eb Clarinet, 5 Bb Clarinet, Eb Alto, Bb Bass and BBb Contrabass. The score includes an alternate part the Eb Alto Clarinet (Bb Clarinet-6). The part was originally scored for Eb Alto and it is the preferred instrumental color and provides a lower tonal range. There also is an EEb ContraAlto part as an alternate for the BBb Contrabass depending on your choir’s instrument availability (the Contrabass is preferred, if possible).

Copyright © 1982 Highbridge Music Limited
All Rights assigned in 2010 to Chester Music Limited
Copyright © 2010 Chester Music Limited International Copyright Secured
All Rights Reserved • Used by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation

SKU: A0.1118521

Walking in the Air is a song written by Howard Blake for the 1982 animated film The Snowman based on Raymond Briggs' 1978 children's book of the same name. The song forms the centrepiece of The Snowman, which has become a seasonal favourite on British and Finnish television. The story relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who has come to life. In the second part of the story, the boy and the snowman fly to the North Pole. Walking in the Air is the theme for the journey. They attend a party of snowmen, at which the boy seems to be the only human until they meet Father Christmas with his reindeer, and the boy is given a scarf with a snowman pattern. In the film, the song was performed by St Paul's Cathedral choirboy Peter Auty, and reissued in 1985 (on Stiff Records) and 1987. In 1985, an altered version was recorded for use in a TV advertising campaign for Toys R Us. As Auty's voice had then broken, Blake recommended the then-14-year-old Welsh chorister Aled Jones, whose recording reached number five in the UK Singles Chart, and who became a popular celebrity on the strength of his performance. The association of the song with Jones, combined with Auty not being credited on The Snowman, led to a common misbelief that Jones performed the song in the film. Walking in the Air has subsequently been performed by over forty artists, in a variety of styles. In a UK poll in 2012, the Aled Jones version was voted 13th on the ITV television special The Nation's Favourite Christmas Song.

SKU: A0.735436

From Howard Blake's, The Snowman, Walking In The Air arranged for Viola & Piano.

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