God Is the Poet
Alfred V. Fedak

Composer Alfred V. Fedak
Text Mary Louise Bringle
Voicing SATB, kybd., opt. flute/C inst., opt. cong.
Topic Music
Scripture reference Psalm 103
Price $2.00 (U.S.)
Length 3' 10" Released 6/14
Catalog no. 420-411
Difficulty Mod. easy

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Anthem text
God is the poet, Word of creation,
conjuring wonders and waking the dawn,
noting and naming, breath-taking beauty,
God is the singer and life is the song.

New fashioned creatures, called into being,
rise up exulting in joy and surprise.
Summoned from mystery, we join their singing,
opening our lips as we open our eyes.

From our creation, music enchants us,
moving our spirits to seek and to learn,
till grace-filled journeys end in beginning:
dying, we rise, and to mystery return.

God, grant us wisdom, formed in your image,
poets, composers, in all that we do:
help us to fathom worlds past our knowing.
May our creating be worthy of you.

--Mary Louise Bringle, © 2012 GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago, IL. Used by permission.

Review copy

Description A collaboration between poet Mary Louise Bringle and composer Alfred V. Fedak produced this lyrical anthem for choir and organ, with optional parts for flute and congregation. The text celebrates the work of poets and composers and asks “May our creating be worthy of you.” The anthem begins warmly and quietly and builds to a full conclusion.

Review
"Two recent hymn texts receive conventional, yet not simplistic, settings by Alfred Fedak. Mary Louise Bringle’s hymn God Is the Poet speaks of the creating God with references to the natural world and to the echo of creative impulse within the human soul. Fedak’s 3/4 setting is typical of anthems based on hymn tunes, although this isn’t specifically a named tune. Treble voices enter in unison, answered by bass voices, and the first verse ends with everyone in unison. The second verse begins with bass voices in unison, then Fedak cleverly, and quickly, expands the texture by adding altos, dividing the basses from the tenors, and bringing in the sopranos all within a matter of three measures. The unfolding of the texture matches the words “Summoned from mystery, we join their singing, opening our lips as we open our eyes.” This subtle text painting deftly pictures the sense of awakening in the text. A four-part homophonic harmonization of the melody comprises the third verse, and the final verse is unison with soprano descant. Organizationally, the anthem resides well within conventional models, yet it finds new expression in the tried and tested formula. The flute part is listed as optional (and allowance for other C instrument is also made), yet the line is more than a whimsical afterthought. Its contribution throughout the piece is significant to the effect. An extracted part is available for download from the publisher’s website as is an optional congregation part." --AAM Journal, May/June 2019



 

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