Welcome to Anthem 38 in my attempt to write a new choir anthem every week for a year. I’m Kevin Mulryne and I hope you will enjoy listening to my progress throughout 2024. Please do visit the website Anthem52.com, follow along on x.com – @realanthem52 or Instagram – @realanthem52 and send me a message to show@anthem52.com.
It was good to return to Holy Trinity Church with the choir this week, even if it wasn’t with Charlotte whose Coventry musical life is just getting going. As I write this, she is preparing for an audition to join the Coventry Cathedral Chorus – I’m sure she will enjoy that a great deal.
It was Ollie’s (our new interim Director of Music) first Sunday with the choir and we sang Choral Evensong. It went well. I’m looking forward to having some of my own anthems added to the choir’s repertoire…one day…
This week was a bit more of a struggle than last week, in terms of composition. It started off fine as I suddenly remembered that the main criterion of anthem competition I entered earlier in the year was to set words by Isaac Watts, the prolific 18th Century writer. I went back to the source I used to find the text for that anthem and rediscovered an enormous collection of words. 824 texts are mentioned with many linked to on the single page:
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/w/a/t/t/watts_i.htm
As well as hymn words, Watts wrote more poetic texts and I chose a short one from Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book 2, 1707–09, number 26. Here are the words (I missed out one verse):
Words for Anthem 38:
Lord, we are blind, we mortals blind,
We can’t behold Thy bright abode;
O ’tis beyond a creature’s mind
To glance a thought half way to God.Infinite leagues beyond the sky
The great Eternal reigns alone,
Where neither wings nor souls can fly,
Nor angels climb the topless throne.Yet, glorious Lord, Thy gracious eyes
Look through, and cheer us from above;
Beyond our praise Thy grandeur flies,
Yet we adore, and yet we love.
As usual when I try to set more mournful words, I didn’t enjoy working on the opening of this anthem. It made me feel unsatisfied. I did like coming up with interesting changes in harmony and timing to augment the A minor tonality but it was a bit of a slog to get to bar 48 where I deliberately made the music more positive, including a move to 5 sharps – B major.
The jaunty dotted rhythms and additional parts were much more satisfying to work on but the whole anthem made me tired. Perhaps I was generally tired – this week has been long and it’s only Tuesday!
I added a final much more chordal section which reminds me of the final Chorale section of an oratorio. It doesn’t sound anything like an oratorio – it’s more the form I mean. In fact, I added some suspensions to add some variety and interest to the harmony that I like.
Overall, though, I’m not sure this anthem feels as homogenous as others. Perhaps it will sound better when I return to it in later weeks and months.
Anyway, see what you think:
Well, what do you think? Let me know on X.com @realanthem52, Instagram @realanthem52, as a comment below or via email show@anthem52.com
I hope you will join me next week for a new episode – and a new anthem – only 14 to go – but until then the question remains – will I make it to Anthem 52?
