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Use: General
Required Resources: SATB choir
Language: English
The Rev. John Keble (1792-1866) was an Anglican clergyman, a colleague of Bl. John Henry Newman, and a fellow proponent of the Oxford Movement within the Anglican Church.
His poem, "Lord, Make My Heart A Place Where Angels Sing," is the text of this well-written motet by Jonathan Adams.
Composed in very mildly dissonant contemporary style, this piece would make a great transition for choirs comfortable with Renaissance-Baroque-Classical harmony into the sounds of the 20th century.
Its frequent unison passages and impeccable voice leading make it a good stepping stone into more modern harmonies.
The text of the poem reads thus:
Lord, make my heart a place where angels sing!
For surely thoughts low-breathed by Thee
Are angels gliding near on noiseless wings;
And where a home they see
Swept clean, and garnished with adoring joy,
They enter in and dwell,
And teach that heart to swell
With heavenly melody, their own untired employ.
This motet, sung as indicated, "Very slowly, molto rubato," will have a profound effect on both choir and congregation!
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