December

Listen:

Program Notes

December is a story about waiting.

Sometimes we wait for a particular moment in our lives; sometimes we wait for a person. There is anticipation, uncertainty, and longing in that space between what we hope for and what has yet to arrive. But when that moment finally comes—or that person finally enters our lives—the waiting can suddenly feel worthwhile.

Musically, December is intentionally accessible. Its greatest challenge is not technical, but expressive. The performers are asked to approach the text with sincerity and allow its meaning to shape the music. The words were deliberately written to remain open to interpretation, allowing both performers and listeners to bring their own experiences to the piece. What one person hears as romantic love, another might understand as longing, hope, remembrance, or simply the anticipation of something meaningful yet to come.

The choice of G-flat major also carries symbolic meaning within the work. I have long associated C major with purity and simplicity. G-flat lies at the midpoint of the octave from C—the tritone, an interval historically associated with tension and instability. For December, I chose to interpret that relationship differently. Rather than viewing G-flat as something opposed to C, I imagined it as existing within and surrounded by that sense of purity.

For me, that became a musical representation of pure love: something that can contain uncertainty, tension, and longing while remaining beautiful at its core.

Ultimately, December is less about what—or whom—we are waiting for than the feeling of waiting itself, and the hope that something extraordinary may be waiting for us at the end.

Look Inside:

Performance Notes

Pianists: Lots of pedal and very gentle, make sure to not bury the vocalist.

Text:

Sunset falls down behind the sea,
Fall has gone and bare are the trees.
Cold swoops down as the fire roars,
Soon you’ll be here to keep me warm.

As I wait for December.

Snowy caps drift unto the land,
darkness falls as I long to hold your hand.
Starry skies help light the snow and sea,
this cabins logs keep out the frosty breeze.

And I wait for December.

The wind picks up, the air is filled with white,
Outside through the trees I see a distant light.
I open the door as wide as it will go,
Warmth fills the room as I grab his hand and hold.

I’ve so long’d for December.

-C. Lexow (b. 1987)