Name: 68 Paradise by Michael Walker 34
Duration: 2 min 25 s
Description: Erin, Ed, Calum, Oisin, Jan and me singing from the New Harp on Friday night.

26b Ninety Third CH

11 Minister's Farewell CH

A captivating song of warning, written by William Walker and a special hymn by Charlotte Elizabeth that has me thinking more about each line:

Soldier, go, but not to claim
Mould’ring spoils of earth-born treasure;
Not to build a vaunting name,
Not to dwell in tents of pleasure:
Dream not that the way is smooth,
Hope not that the thorns are roses;
Turn no wishful eye of youth,
Where the sunny beam reposes,
Thou hast sterner work to do
Hosts to cut thy passage thru;
Close behind thee gulfs are burning –
Forward, then there’s no returning.

Soldier, rest; – but not for thee
Spreads the world her downy pillow;
On the rock thy couch must be,
While around thee chafes the billow:
Thine must be a watchful sleep
wearier than another’s waking.
Such a charge as thou must keep,
Brooks no moment of forsaking:
Sleep as on the battlefield,
Girded – grasping sword and shield;
Those thou canst not name nor number,
Steal upon thy broken slumber.

317 CH The Christian Soldier

With my head in the Christian Harmony this week I wrote a Walker-styled piece called Charlotte with another poem by Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, who, I found,  also published several anti-slavery hymns. I hope you enjoy.

 

Charlotte 7s. 6s. (Keillor)

A thoroughly Sacred Harp composition, 447, with a great rich texture. 

447 Wondrous Cross

360 CH

Erin, Ed, Calum, Oisin, Jan and me singing from the New Harp on Friday night.

68 Paradise

Here, I have begun the attempt to recreate the feeling of the earliest sacred harp quartet recordings such as were done in the early 20's. One goal was to just get the parts sounding nice and accented but ultimately I thought the effect was a charming one, so there will surely be more on the burner soon. Who doesn't enjoy the sound of an old record? I do this out of admiration for those early recordings, but also because it would be neat to have sung with some of those singers on the porch! Enjoy! Higher fidelity versions may surface...I think these actually sound pretty old!

144 - Jubilee

Camp DoReMi Europe 2017

281b CH Camp Doremi UK 2017

Here is, I guess, my favorite piece I wrote this year, called Willow, named for a small town in the Catskills. One of my favorite pieces in the Christian Harmony is Samanthra, for how it treats these amazing words by Joseph Swain. But I always found myself singing them to my own tune, which I later harmonized into this piece. I hope it finds you well! 

Thanks for the continued support. 

As a funnier side-note, with headphones one might here light chatter in the background, which is the sound of the pizza guy getting the door while I was singing the tenor line. My roommate intercepted the confused Philadelphia man, allowing me to finish the line, however I sang just one verse!

Here is the PDF link: [ https://drive.google.com/open?id=1vPgpbr68fzqSuayEIU91_nLgd820PjF8 ]
 
The words by Joseph Swain I selected:

1. O Thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call;
My comfort by day, and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all.

2. Where dost thou at noon-tide resort with thy sheep,
To feed them in pastures of love?
For why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in the wilderness rove?

3.O why should I wander an alien from thee,
Or cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice, when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed.

4.His voice as the sound of a dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
The air is perfumed with his breath.

5.He looks, and ten thousand of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for his word;
He speaks--and eternity, filled with his voice,
Re-echoes the praise of the her voice.

Willow 11s.8s. (Keillor)

I've been thinking about tunes that work with the 12s & 11s hymns, since I enjoy how they are often quite dense; their melodies can cover a lot of ground in a short space. Some of them are among my favorites, like 360, The Royal Band, by W.T. Power, words from Mercer's Cluster. 

What are some of your favorite tunes for this meter? 

Please Enjoy,

-K

I believe the church there is in Livingstonville, which is small village in the Catskills west of Rensselaerville. The vantage point there is looking over my shoulder just as I wove East into the hollow which contains the small assemblage,(surely known as) Hauverville, for which that way is named. There is cemetery on the left once you emerge from the hollow, just a ways after the delaware turnpike begins, that seems to lie equidistant from Livingstonville and Rensselaerville, which suggests there may have been more dwellings along that route at an earlier time in the 19th century than have been maintained today.

68 Paradise

Michael Walker 34

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Jan

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