In the bleakest midwinter of 1982, under the gloom of Thatcher’s Britain, families gathered in front of their TV sets as a plaintive, tender piano melody began to play. Like a flurry of snow caught in the wind, they were whisked away to a little cottage in the countryside, where a young boy called James was building a snowman. As the snowman came to life, and he and the boy flew into the night, a choirboy began to sing in a diaphanous soprano: “We’re walking in the air/ We’re floating in the moonlit sky…”
For generations of us, composer Howard Blake’s score to The Snowman – the animated film adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ classic children’s book – is as familiar to the festive season as mince pies and mistletoe. More than 40 years since it made its debut on the month-old Channel 4, it continues to enchant us, serving as the storyteller in a film free of dialogue. But exactly how did Blake manage to create one of the country’s most popular film scores?
As it turns out, it wasn’t without its difficulties. “Briggs was quite an eccentric person,” Blake recalls of the author and illustrator, who died last year, “and he told me he didn’t want a song for the film – he didn’t want a tune.” The 85-year-old is sitting comfortably next to his Steinway grand piano at home – a purpose-built 1895 artist’s studio in Kensington, London – with his assistant Emmett close by, and a German copy of the score, Der Schneemann, to hand for referencing purposes. “There were arguments about it,” he continues. “[Briggs] said, ‘I don’t like songs. I don’t want you mucking about with my Snowman.’”
Fortunately, Blake had his way, and proved that he could tell the story through the music. There’s plenty of character in the instrumentation – the sly oboe, the curious flutes, the cheeky horns – and a palpable sense of movement in the arrangements. A flurry of strings signals James’s rush to the front door, while a parp of brass stomps giant footprints into the snow.
Those signature six notes in “Walking in the Air” came to Blake during a time of crisis. Unhappy in his new home in Knightsbridge with his then-wife, Mavis – despite his success with scores for cult TV series The Avengers and Ridley Scott’s 1977 film The Duellists – he fled to a remote fishing village in Cornwall in the middle of February. Walking along the deserted beach, he was struck by inspiration, and scrawled the notes down on a scrap of paper.
If the melody had come from God, as Blake told The Times in 2013, where better to find a voice to accompany it than St Paul’s Cathedral? Contrary to what many still believe to this day, Welsh singer Aled Jones was not the original vocalist behind “Walking in the Air”. It was 13-year-old Peter Auty, whom Blake discovered after calling the choir director at St Paul’s and asking for “the best boy soprano in England”.
While Jones’s version is better remembered, Auty – now a professional opera tenor – has by far the superior voice. His soprano on “Walking in the Air” reaches higher; his annunciation is that touch clearer; those “r” trills are delivered with distinctive flair. Jones, meanwhile, covered the song three years after the film’s release – for a Toys “R” Us TV campaign – when he was 14. Unfortunately for Auty, that rendition reached No 5 in the UK Singles Chart at Christmas in 1985, catapulting Jones to national fame and convincing the nation that he was “the voice” of The Snowman.
Auty, who was uncredited in the original film and paid just £300, was only formally recognised as the singer behind “Walking in the Air” in 2002. “It’s great to have my name on the film after all these years – I’m really pleased people will now recognise it was me,” he told the BBC at the time. “At the time, it didn’t really bother me that everyone thought it was Aled. I was quite happy to be anonymous, but I think my mum and dad were quite miffed on my behalf.”
‘The Snowman will always hold a special place in my heart, bringing back fond memories and marking an extraordinary milestone in my life, thanks to Howard Blake,’ says singer Aled Jones who covered the song for a Toys “R” Us TV campaign when he was 14
It’s easy to understand why. With his version of “Walking in the Air”, Jones became an instant celebrity, asked to sing for Pope John Paul II, the then-Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth II. He sang at celebrity weddings and made numerous TV appearances, even working with legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein. And he’s continued to enjoy the success brought by The Snowman, going so far as to duet with his teenage self on his 2007 album, One Voice.
“The Snowman will always hold a special place in my heart, bringing back fond memories and marking an extraordinary milestone in my life, thanks to Howard Blake,” Jones writes over email. “Contributing to this beloved and iconic festive storytelling was a true privilege.” Even after all these years, he still finds joy in revisiting it, as he did as recently as 2022 with a new piano version.
Blake insists that he always wanted Auty, and is somewhat dismissive of Jones’s take. “Well, Aled Jones, he was desperately wanting to sing it – he saw that it would be a huge hit – but I didn’t actually want him to,” he says. “I wanted Peter as he had an absolutely wonderful pure voice. Aled is very good – he’s a slightly commercialised treble. But he wasn’t going to give up. Anyway, we ended up with two versions and they both worked out alright.”
You wouldn’t rewrite Mozart’s Piano Trio, would you? No... the way ‘The Snowman’ is scored is the way I wanted it scored. And I’ve managed to keep it intact for all these years— Howard Blake
Blake has made millions from The Snowman royalties, yet he remains fiercely protective over the soundtrack’s legacy. In 2021, the BBC cancelled its plans for a new radio version – with the music due to be sung rather than played by instruments – after he complained that it would “sound silly”.
“It was a dreadful choral version,” he sniffs. “People don’t realise… I mean, it’s like if you write a symphony, you don’t expect somebody to come along and rewrite it as if they can make it better! You wouldn’t rewrite Mozart’s Piano Trio, would you? No... the way ‘The Snowman’ is scored is the way I wanted it scored. And I’ve managed to keep it intact for all these years.”
Frosty friends: Author and illustrator Raymond Briggs is best known for the 1978 classic ‘The Snowman’— (PA)
He speaks with faint bemusement at occasional attempts to “modernise” or spruce up his score, reserving particular scorn for “a big firm in America” that wanted to rewrite it. “I told them, I’m very happy the way it is, thank you very much!”
The Snowman celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, and its grip on the British imagination shows no sign of thawing. That’s because I instruct people not to change it,” Blake points out. “I’m happy it’s going on.” Like the seasons, The Snowman returns each year, bringing joy and comfort in even the harshest of winters.
