In case you have not visited the compositions page of this site recently, please do.
You may know already that now and then I post a PDF of a composition (usually for choir) and if you click on it you can download it.
My most recent “free gift” is an Easter anthem for SATB choir, organ and brass quintet with obligato timpani.
The text is a hymn for Easter day, written originally in Greek by John of Damascus sometime in the eighth century, and translated by a Victorian clergyman John Mason Neale, whose portrait I include at the top of this blog post.
He does not look all that happy, but the rhymed, metered, English verses he penned are full of joy.
I’ve just used the final two verses in my anthem:
Now the Queen of seasons, bright
With the dawn of splendour,
With the royal feast of feasts,
Comes its joy to render;
Comes to glad Jerusalem,
Who with true affection
Welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesu’s Resurrection.
Neither might the gates of death,
Nor the tomb’s dark portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal,
Hold thee as a mortal;
But today amidst thine own
Thou didst stand, bestowing
That thy peace which evermore
Passeth human knowing.
If you like the piece, feel free to download it and share it with your choir.
I can prepare instrumental parts if you want them. It’s a pretty quick task with my handy Sibelius notation programme. Just write to me at stmartin@yorku.ca.
One last thing to tell you is that Pax Christi Chorale has just recorded the piece AND made a spectacular video.
So as soon as I can I’ll send you this as well.