Welcome to Anthem 41 in my attempt to write a new choir anthem every week for a year. Iโm 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 feels like I’m on the ‘home stretch’ with the Anthem 52 project. It’s been difficult at times but this week’s composition came fairly easily. Once again, it’s an Isaac Watts text. I was looking for some words that would lend themselves to a quieter, more serene anthem this week. It was the turn of the accompanied style and I have found it much easier to write loud anthems with organ accompaniment this year. I also wanted to break my own habit of writing the initial phrases of the vocal parts in a rising pattern. When I found these words included ‘descend and dwell’ that seemed to fit the bill nicely.
Here are the words I chose:
Words for Anthem 41:
Come, dearยญest Lord, desยญcend and dwell
By faith and love in evยญery breast;
Then shall we know, and taste, and feel
The joys that canยญnot be exยญpressed.Come, fill our hearts with inยญward strength,
Make our enยญlargยญรจd souls posยญsess,
And learn the height, and breadth, and length
Of Thine unยญmeaยญsurยญable grace.By all the Church, through Christ His Son.
As usual, I moulded the words of the original to my needs and included just one line from the final verse – ‘By all the Church, through Christ His Son,’ in order to finish the anthem off with a definite ending.
The main feature of the organ accompaniment to this anthem is held chords. It was interesting to see how adding more and more notes to the organ accompaniment worked. At the beginning of the anthem, there is a vocal ‘cascading’ effect over the held chords that I think is quite effective.
After this, I tried out a simpler chord on the organ and, as each voice part came in, I added a note to the chord that either duplicated a note in the vocal part or complemented it.
As a direct contrast, after all the overlapping vocal parts, I threw in a section of unaccompanied 4-part harmony. I was pleased with the overall effect of this short section – it’s not completely standard harmony – which breaks down into separate vocal parts again as the organ comes back in.
Next is a short recap of the opening 4 bars to lead into the second verse. The accompaniment here has an offbeat feel and is based on the tonic chord and then the dominant chord – G major to D major. The vocal parts increase in layering and then the 4-part harmony section makes a return.
The opening material is repeated – extensively this time – followed by an organ interlude based on a previous chord structure and then repeated but restructured and elongated in the choir parts. There is a rallentando and a pause on the last chord.
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 11 to go – but until then the question remains – will I make it to Anthem 52?