"The Snow Queen" is a symphonic poem for orchestra inspired by the story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. It was written as incidental music to my daughter's school production in Switzerland. In this version, it is concert ready with parts which may also be printed.

The evil Snow Queen lures the young boy Kay to stay with her at her icy home in the most northern part of Finland (Lapland). Gerda, Kay's best friend, takes it upon herself to find him. She meets a princess and prince (who she thought might be Kay), an old woman who shows her a wonderful garden, a robber girl with a flying reindeer, and two women from Finland and Lapland. In the music one can hear the Snow Queen represented by a rather agressive theme in the low instruments. The great hall of the Snow Queen's Palace is represented in the middle of the symphonic poem. Voices (singing "ah") are used to add colour to the "icy" part of the piece.

Gerda succeeds in finding her friend, sneaking him away from the Snow Queen who had left Kay alone and frightened. They make their way back home but not before saying goodbye to the friends who helped them. Melodic material representing each of the characters is brought back to accomplish a sense of closure to the form.