Composer Clifford W. King set my text “Winter Goddess, Give Me Your Hands” absolutely beautifully for NEXT Ensemble’s May 2026 program of premieres by Utah composers. You can listen to it here; the full text is included below the video, and the score is available at Sheet Music Plus (https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/product/winter-goddess-give-me-your-hands-23751540.html); Sheet Music Direct (https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/2021206/Product.aspx); and J. W. Pepper (https://www.jwpepper.com/winter-goddess-give-me-your-hands-11693064-2801544/p).
Live recording by NEXT Ensemble Singers & Lehi New Works Chorale: J.P. Kentros, conductor May 21, 2026: Eccles Conference Center, Ogden UT
“Winter Goddess, Give Me Your Hands”
(quietly, a chant or spell; can be repeated whole or in fragments underneath or between lines or stanzas of the other text)
Morana, Mara, Marzanna,
winter goddess, give me your hands.
(full singing voice)
Where have you gone, Mother Winter?
You who freeze the aching bulbs
so they arise in the spring,
you who chill the woods and fields,
so bears sleep and the white foxes hunt.
We have found you wandering,
in places foreign to your chill.
We find you on the griddle plains,
and devouring tropic mangoes.
We have hurt you, Mother Winter,
and we are sorry and atone.
We repent and we commit
to repair this world that is our home.
Where have you gone, Winter Queen?
You who keep the sea-ice in place
for the seals and hares,
you who make old dogs pups again,
give us joy and beauty.
We have made your life much shorter,
driven you from your ancestral homes.
We have caused you to wither
in the heat we’ve made.
We have hurt you, Mother Winter,
and we are sorry and atone.
We repent and we commit
to repair this world that is our home.
