In The Bleak Midwinter is one of three hymns that Holst composed at the request of Ralph Vaughan Williams for the English Hymnal which he was editing. Rossetti’s poem had not been published until 1904 after her death and so was a new text to Holst though it has become familiar now through this setting and that of Harold Darke.Holst was a writer of hymns over several religious streams Hymn to Dionysus Rig Veda Hymns Hymn to Jesus but in this one he achieves a simplicity of melody and accompaniment that lends a moment of introspection to the joyous season. It is perhaps less jolly that some other carols because it was intended as a hymn.
