Within These Walls
4-Part - Sheet Music

SATB choir a cappella (SATB choir a cappella)

SKU: AN.AMP-0983

Composed by Stewart Duncan. Edited by Simon Carrington. Octavo. Alliance Music Publications #AMP 0983. Published by Alliance Music Publications (AN.AMP-0983).

Duncan.

Within these walls let holy peace,
And love, and concord dwell;
Here give the troubled conscience ease,
The wounded spirit heal.
-John Newton
Olney Hymns, Book II, Ordinances, Hymn XLIII

This piece continues my work on short settings of John Newton's hymn texts, followingLord, Afford a Spring to Me (AMP 0934). The text is found in Newton's Olney Hymns titledHymn XIII - On opening a place for social prayer, and is built around the idea ofmarking a space as a place for worship. Adding the phrase Lord, hear our prayer toNewton's text is an intentional suggestion that when we gather for worship, we are bothoffering our praises to God and asking that he receive our needs and desires in His mercy.The supplication of the added text speaks to the fact that often, when we come to worship,we are in need of reassurance, fulfillment, or healing and may find praise hard to muster.

Performance Notes -
The director should promote a fluid, responsive, and sensitive sound from thechoir, responding to both the markings on the page and the movement of themusic itself.
On the final page, the low E-B fifth in the bass may be substituted for a singleE on the staff. Tenors, barring the soloist, should always hold the written G.