Composer's note “There are already well-known settings of this text, most notably Bing Crosby’s 1956 recording of Johnny Marks’ interpretation; however, people (including Crosby) have tended to omit the central, more overtly historical verses. I wanted to write a setting that included these, as they are critical to the effect of Longfellow’s poem, written as it was during the American Civil War and at a time of great personal difficulty for the poet, not long after the death of his second wife a...