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Composer
Alfred V. Fedak
Text Carl P. Daw, Jr., 2019
Voicing Two-part mixed choir, kybd.
Topic Beauty, Creation, Music, Silence
Price $2.35 (U.S.)
Released 9/22
Cat. no. 420-410
Difficulty Mod. easy
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Min. of 5
Description
A perfect anthem for the post-pandemic church underscoring the beauty of music, and its importance to the human experience, and a Christian's faith. Easily rehearsed, simple but not simplistic, and elegant. Based on the composer's hymn tune, UNEXPECTED BEAUTY, composed in 2019.
Anthem text
Out of silence music rises;
melody evolves like breath;
light and shadow dance together;
life keeps dawning out of death.
Unexpected beauty beckons
and its new-found charms entice:
promise of unbounded splendor,
fleeting taste of paradise.
So the soul is caught and carried
by allure not fully known,
by a glimpse of dappled radiance,
by a half-heard overtone.
Past what sense can sort or order,
farther down than thoughts reveal,
wells a deep, unfathomed longing
for the source of this appeal.
For the God who lavished beauty
on a newborn universe
still bestows it to engage us,
to invite but not coerce.
All that wakes our dormant wonder,
every surge of sound and sight,
gives us grace to seek the holy,
in its terror and delight.
Carl P. Daw, Jr., 2019
© 2019 Hope Publishing Co. www.hopepublishing.com.
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Review
"Fedak’s original hymn tune, UNEXPECTED BEAUTY, serves as the basis for this gentle setting of imaginative poetry by Carl Daw. A supple melodic line in the organ introduction prepares the hymn tune melody first introduced by the tenors and basses in unison. Sopranos and altos sing the second half of the melody to round out the first verse. The second verse begins with a modified canon between the voices, and the organ accompaniment simplifies to block chords, supporting the voices without competition. The final verse has altos and basses singing the melody with sopranos and tenors furnishing an attractive descant. The beautiful melody and straightforward presentation will make this popular with singers and congregations alike. The sparse organ writing during passages with more intricate voice parts accommodates combined organist-choirmaster situations." -AAM Journal, Sept./Oct. 2023
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