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Download an MP3 file of a performance of this work by The Singers: Minnesota Choral Artists, Matthew Culloton, director.
Download an MP3 file of a performance of this work by the choir of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lois Toeppner, organist and Myron Heaton, conductor.
Download a PDF file of the choral score of this composition. For perusal only -- not printable.
Commissioned by the members of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Sudbury, Massachusetts, in honor of the 25th anniversary of their Minister of Music, Lois Toeppner, Associate in Ministry: 1988-2013
Premiered by the choir of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Lois Toeppner, organist, Myron Heaton, guest conductor, March 31, 2013, Sudbury, Massachusetts
The text for this anthem is based on the poem, "Lo, the Earth is Risen Again," by Samuel Longfellow (1819-1892), brother of the famous American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The lyrics announce the return of Spring: "Bring we leaf and flower and spray...all the earth is born anew." This celebration of the renewal of the earth is joined with the spiritual rebirth - the Resurrection of Christ. "Life has triumphed over death, and beauty sings on every breath...for Christ our Lord is risen again!"
The music is lively and celebratory. Voices "leap" over intervals of fifths. The rhythmic underpinning is based on the energy of renewed life. "How our spirits soar and sing!" The one quiet moment in the anthem comes with the phrase "All our fears and griefs shall be lost in immortality." For this is an expression of the wonderment of eternal life. The livelier music then returns and rises to the end.
Notes by the composer