As a frame reverently holds a great masterpiece for all to see, so choral music gently cradles a text, compelling the listener to draw close and consider the mystery of its meaning.

Joseph Martin, composer

            Ever think about how the music that is composed for the song texts supports the content of the text? On November 2, All Saints Sunday, hymn 287, “For all the saints,” will be sung. What is it about the music that after eight stanzas causes people to long to dwell with the saints who “stream in through the gates of pearl, from ocean’s farthest coast”? Is it the strength of the line of the melody and the way the alleluias contain the highest notes? Is it the sturdiness of the harmony with the moving bass line that seems to imply the determination of the saints to continue the work of God and then arrive at the “sweet calm of paradise”? Is it the resolute optimism that the key of G imparts? These aspects of the hymn are part of the way the music draws the congregation to consider the mystery of being saints of God.

            Perhaps few choral compositions cradle their texts as well as “How lovely is thy dwelling place,” a chorus from the Brahms Requiem, which the Choir of Pohick will sing soon. This setting of Psalm 84: 1, 2, 4, communicates the loveliness of the Lord’s dwelling in the warm key of Eb and in the soaring vocal lines, which describe the sung word “lovely.” The urgency of “for my soul, it longeth, yea fainteth, for the courts of the Lord” also appears in the jagged yet ultimately upward voice line. “My soul and body crieth out” by means of dramatic chord changes. “Blest are they that dwell in thy house” has the texture of a calm four part hymn which introduces a double fugue on the words “they praise Thy name evermore,” with the voices divided as if each individual dweller in the house of God is praising his name. The anthem closes with long lines for the words “how lovely, how lovely, how lovely is Thy dwelling place.” 

            Music amplifies the content of the words and brings the words home so much more compellingly. It adds the dimensions of time, emotion and meditation, which are not expressible in words alone. The combination of the words and music works together to call the people to worship, reflection, and faith.