Scoring: Choir (3 versions: SSABar, SATB, SSA) and piano
Date of composition: 2016 (latest update: 2022)
An original setting of a poem by Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), in the form of a prayer.
The piano here provides a constantly flowing ritornello throughout the verses, while the voices weave around it in a gentle wave of prayerful reflection. The poet feels an interior "quiet peace" while all around her there are storms and disquiet, because she knows that her Lord hears her voice. The setting is deliberately simple and undemanding, and it should be sung quietly, meditatively and without rushing.
My wife, Rev Canon Anne Le Bas, speaks about the poet in the following way, helping to put the words of the poem in perspective: "Amy Carmichael worked as a Christian missionary in India in the early twentieth century, among the poorest of the poor. She often felt despair, just as we may do when we see the devastation of war, still, again, tearing lives apart in our world. She wrote of her despair, but also of her trust that God heard her. That was what gave her the peace she needed, that gave her strength to go on."
Words:
O Lord my heart is all a prayer,
But it is silent unto thee;
I am too tired to look for words,
I rest upon thy sympathy
To understand when I am dumb;
And well I know thou hearest me.
I know thou hearest me because
A quiet peace comes down to me,
And fills the places where before
Weak thoughts were wandering wearily;
And deep within me it is calm,
Though waves are tossing outwardly.
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
But it is silent unto thee;
I am too tired to look for words,
I rest upon thy sympathy
To understand when I am dumb;
And well I know thou hearest me.
I know thou hearest me because
A quiet peace comes down to me,
And fills the places where before
Weak thoughts were wandering wearily;
And deep within me it is calm,
Though waves are tossing outwardly.
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
This is beautiful but I can't seem to get the SSA version.
ReplyDeleteGlad to know you like it, and thanks for your comment. I'm afraid the SSA version has been withdrawn at present for urgent "repairs"! I hope to have it on the blog soon. Philip
ReplyDeleteSSA version now out of "repairs" and published above! Philip
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