Unaccompanied
Anthems
The
Aaronic Blessing – Dennis Northway
Composed in 1989 for four-part
unaccompanied choir, it is a brief and lovely work. The closing seven-fold “amen” moves from A minor to Ab minor and back.
Text:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon
you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Alabaster
Boxes – Dennis Northway
Commissioned by the Heritage Chorale of
in celebration of their anniversary in 2004 for unaccompanied
choir,
it is a haunting work.
Text:
Do not keep the Alabster
boxes of your love and tenderness sealed up until your friends
are dead. Fill their lives with sweetness, speak
approving, cheering words
while their ears can hear them
and their hearts can be thrilled
and made happier by
them. The kind things you mean to say
to them when they are gone,
say them now before they go.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Ave
Verum Corpus – Dennis Northway
Composed in November of 1987, this is a ”Distler-esque”
setting of the text with a canon between the upper
and lower pairs of voices.
It is brief, arid and haunting.
Text:
Hail, true Body, born of
the Virgin Mary who has truly suffered, was sacrificed on
the cross for mortals, whose
side was pierced, whence flowed water and blood:
be for us a foretaste of
heaven during our final examining. O
Jesu sweet, O Jesu pure,
O Jesu, Son of Mary, have mercy upon me.
Amen.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Is
Not this the Fast that I Choose – Dennis Northway
Composed in January, 2004, this was written
for the ordination
to the diaconate of Deacon Dale Bennett formerly of
Grace Episcopal Church,
It is a firm and powerful setting of the
Isaiah text.
Text:
Is not this the fast that
I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to
undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free and to
break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor
into your house, when you see the naked
to cover them and not to
hide yoursef from your own kin?
Then your light shall
shall break forth like the dawn and your healing
shall rise up quickly. Then you shall call and the LORD will answer,
you shall cry for help and He
will say,
“Here I am.”
Isaiah 58: 6 - 8a, 9
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Play: Is Not This The Fast That I Choose
Download: Is Not This The Fast That I Choose
Non
Sunt Abscondita a Filiius Eorum
– Dennis Northway
Composed for the baptism of Stephen
Legendre on
for SATB unaccompanied.
It is a lovely setting of the Psalm text.
Text:
Non sunt abscondita a
filiius eorum a generatione sequenti narrante laudes
Domine et
potentiam eius et mirabilia eius quae fecit.
Ut ponant in Deo spem suam
et non obliviscantur cogitationum eius
et mandata eius custodiant.
We will not hide God’s
laws from our children; we will tell to the generation
To come the praises of the
LORD, and His strength and the wonderful
Works that He has done. So that they might set their hope in God and
not forget
The works of God, but keep
His commandments.
- Psalm 78: 4, 7
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Play: Non Sunt Abscondita a Filiis Eorum
Download: Non Sunt Abscondita a Filiis Eorum
A
Prayer of St. Francis – Dennis Northway
Composed for the Baptism of
Samuel Peter Skean, formerly of
Grace Episcopal Church,
for SATB unaccompanied in 2002.
It is a lovely setting of the Psalm text.
Text:
Lord, make me an
instrument of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union; where there is doubt,
faith; where there is darkness,
light; where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I
may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console; to be understood as to
understand; to be loved, as to love. For is is in giving that we receive; it is in
pardoning that we are pardoned; and
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Download: A Prayer of St. Francis
Ego
Dilecto Meo – Dennis Northway
Composed in celebration of the 50th wedding
anniversary of
Sarah and Cliff Hunt of
Grace Episcopal Church,
for SATB unaccompanied in 2006.
It is a lovely setting of the Song of
Solomon text, with a special hidden tune.
Text:
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.
Song
of Solomon 6:3
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
O
Taste and See – Dennis Northway
Composed in celebration of the 10th
ordination anniversary of the
Rev. Dr. Michael Johnston, former rector of
Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
for SATB unaccompanied in 2002.
It is a lovely setting of the Psalm text.
Text:
O taste and see how
gracious the Lord is. Blest are we who
find haven in you.
Psalm 34:8
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Oh
What Their Joy – Dennis Northway
Composed to celebrate the life and teaching
ministry of Mr. Carl Burger and as a tribute to Mr. E. John Efting.
It is an Anglican setting of the Peter
Abelard poem.
Text:
O what their joy and their glory must be, those
endless Sabbaths the blessed ones see!
Crowns for the valiant, to weary ones rest;
God shall be all and in all ever blest.
In new Jerusalem, joy shall be found, and
blessings of peace shall forever abound;
Wish and fulfillment are not severed
there. Nor the thing prayed for come
short of prayer.
We where no trouble, distraction can bring,
safely the anthems of Zion shall sing;
While for you grace Lord, their voices of
praise your blessed people shall ever more raise.
Now let us worship our Lord and our King,
with joy we raise then our voices to sing,
Praise to Creator, and praise to the Son,
praise to the Spirit, to God, three in one.
- Peter Abelard 1079 - 1142
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Prayer
of Devotion – Dennis Northway
Composed to celebrate the baptism of
Julianna Rose Krebasch on
Text: TWO POEMS:
still my soul that i might pray
Thee
calm my mind, that i might
hear Thee
light my vision, that i might
see Thee
unveil m heart, that i might
truly love Thee
bend my knee, that i might
adore Thee
loosen my tongue that i might
exalt Thee
come within, that i might know
Thee,
give me wings, that i might
ever sing Thee
Good morning Holy Spirit,
I need you this day. Fill me with your
presence and guide me on my way. O
precious Holy Spirit, I need you every day; fill me with your love and in my
heart please stay.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Psalm
Two – Dennis Northway
Composed to celebrate the baptism of Katrina Krebasch on 5 October,
2000 at Grace Episcopal Church, in Oak Park, IL it is an unaccompanied setting
of a Caryl A. Porter poem.
Text:
Blest is she who touches mystery; who is not caught and held
only by what she knows. How can she know
the ways of the sun if she does not know the ways of the moon? Sunflowers need not count their seeds, nor
bees reveal the secrets of their hives.
The planet turns on one long perfect tone and woman's song echoes the
planets turning. She is secure in Love
which is the Other Name. – Caryl A. Porter
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
The
Poor Shall Eat and be Satisfied – Dennis Northway
Composed to celebrate the ordination of Jon
Baumgarten of Grace Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL to the diaconate. It is dated 27 December, 2003.
Text:
The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and those who seek the
LORD shall praise him: “May your heart live forever!” All the ends of the earth shall remember and
turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations bow before him. – Psalm
22:25-26
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Play: The Poor Shall Eat and be Satistfied
Download: The Poor Shall Eat and be Satistfied
What
Does the Lord Require of You? – Dennis Northway
Composed to celebrate the 15th anniversary
of the ordination of Shawn Schreiner on 25 March, 2007 at Grace Episcopal
Church, in Oak Park, IL. It was composed
in Cleveland, OH on the Madrigal Choir tour and is dated 17 March, 2007.
Text:
What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to
love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God?
–
Micah 6:8
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Play: What Does the Lord Require of You?
Download: What Does the Lord Require of You?
Love’s
as Warm as Tears – Dennis Northway
Written for a wedding, this incredible poem
of C. S. Lewis begs for a minimalist setting of the text. It dates from
Text:
Love's as warm as tears, Love is tears: Pressure within the
brain, tension at the throat, Deluge, weeks of rain, Haystacks afloat,
Featureless seas between Hedges, where once was green. Love's as fierce as fire, Love is Fire: All
sorts infernal heat Clinkered with greed and pride, Lyric desire sharp-sweet,
Laughing even when denied and that empyreal flame Whence all loves came. Love's as fresh as spring, Love is spring:
Birdsong hung in the air, Cool smells in a wood, Whispering
'Dare! Dare! To sap to blood Telling 'Ease, saftey rest, Are
good; not best.' Love's as hard
as nails, Love is nails; blunt, thick, hammered through the medial nerves of
One, Who having made us, knew The things He had done, Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His. - Clive Staples Lewis
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.
Download: Love's as Warm as Tears
Nunc
Dimittis – Dennis Northway
Composed to be sung by the Madrigal Choir of Grace Episcopal Church,
for SATB unaccompanied in Spring 2004.
It is a minimalist setting of the canticle.
Text:
Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you
have promised; for these eyes of mine
have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a Light
to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
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on the sound file below first, then open the pdf.