Seafarer Press | Elizabeth Alexander, composer

LEVEL
  E = Easy
ME = Moderately Easy
  M = Medium
MD = Moderately Difficult
  D = Difficult


Adult Women Men Youth Children by theme/style by difficulty

We Lift Up Our Hearts (Richard M. Fewkes)

unison children's choir (S), SATB, piano - SEA-021-00 - $2.00/copy
3 minutes - E

For years before I set Richard M. Fewkes' prayer to music, it had been the blessing at my family's table. The unison melody of this intergenerational song is simple enough for a young child to learn, beautiful in language and form, and appropriate in any interfaith setting. The optional adult choir descant adds a graceful countermelody with carefully crafted inner voices, creating an effective anthem for any time of year.

If desired, the adults and children may learn their parts separately, joining together in one final rehearsal. The piano part is on an intermediate level. Children c'-d", Soprano c'-g", Alto g-g', Tenor c-e', Bass F(E)-b

To view the score, click here
To hear a recording, click here
(MP3, 1.5 MB, sung by Unity Church-Unitarian Adult and Children's Choirs of St. Paul, MN
Ruth Palmer, conductor ~ Kathleen Bartholomay, piano)
A recording of this
piece is now available
on the CD:
Finally On My Way To Yes
We Lift Up Our Hearts Music by Elizabeth Alexander
Poem by Richard Fewkes

For the sun and the dawn which we did not create;
For the moon and the evening which we did not make;
For food which we plant but cannot grow;
For friends and loved ones we have not earned and cannot buy;
For this gathered company which welcomes us as we are,
          from wherever we have come;
For all our free churches that keep us human
          and encourage us in our quest for beauty, truth, and love;
For all things which come to us as gifts of being from sources beyond ourselves;
Gifts of life and love and friendship
We lift up our hearts in thanks this day.

Copyright by Richard M. Fewkes.  Reprinted by permission.
View and play the score Scorch was designed by the folks who built Sibelius notation software, as a simple way to allow Sibelius scores to become webpages.  Despite its slightly ominous name, Scorch is free, is not excessively large (approx. 1 MB), and does not do anything demonic like put you on a mailing list or affect other computer programs. - E.A.

If you can't see the score after the file finishes loading, click here to download the Scorch plug-in.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
All content © copyright 2007 by Seafarer Press/Elizabeth Alexander.