Winter Ayres Collection

For intermediate - late intermediate pedal or lever harp with modifications, and flute (or other C instrument)

“Winter Ayres” is a collection of magical, wintery sounding traditional tunes, worthy of concert performance. The “Away in a Manger” melody is also “Flow Gently Sweet Afton”, so it can be performed year round. Presented as medleys, any of the six melodies can also be performed as stand alone tunes.

Written as recorded on “Winter Ayres” by RoseWynde:
Kathryn Cater, harp, Sandy Norman, flute.

Inis Oirr / Arran Boat Song
Hush My Babe / Away in a Manger (Flow Gently Sweet Afton)
Month of January / When the Snow and the Frost are All Over

Inis Oirr / Arran Boat Song
For pedal or lever harp, these melodies evoke natural beauty and the movement of a boat on the sea. Arran Boat Song opens with a pulsing tremolo. If this is not achievable, simply roll the chord.

Hush My Babe / Away in a Manger
Two lovely lullabies. Multiple key changes and four sharps in this arrangement make it less friendly as a medley for lever harp, but as stand alone pieces they work very well.

Lever harp :Hush My Babe (written in e minor with one sharp) is somber and heartfelt. To end this tune without going into the next piece, just expand the e minor arpeggio at the end of the tune as noted below. If your harp is tuned to four flats, play Away in a Manger (Flow Gently Sweet Afton) as a stand-alone in three flats instead of four sharps. Just write in the new key signature and cross out the distracting pedal changes. The key change at the end will be to four flats - A flat Major (d naturals to d flats). You have plenty of time to make them, as the accompaniment is quite sparse for a few measures.

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Month of January / When the Snow and the Frost are All Over
I love these pieces! They feel positively icy and exciting.

I recommend lever harp treat these two pieces as stand-alone melodies to avoid the key change. (two sharps to no sharps) OR, have your flutist repeat the last four measures solo with feeling — while you change levers! (Measures 41-43)

Lever harp: Month of January is a challenge. Written in A Mixolydian with two sharps, C naturals appear twice. Simplifying the LH in the measures using C naturals should make this piece very accessible. See example below.
When the Snow and Frost Are All Over, in D Dorian (no sharps or flats), has one accidental which lever harp can just omit. See the video above, presenting this piece by itself.