Composed 2009 for SATB choir a capella
Sing Unto God was written January 2009
Sing Unto God has been chosen as the winner of the 2023 Chorus Austin Composers Competition! Read more…
I very clearly remember the evening I got the idea for this song: the first house I rented after college did not have a dishwasher (which is a terrible thing for a bachelor), so when I ran out of counter space I knew I had to do dishes. One January evening as I was washing dishes, a repetitive idea popped into my head and would not leave: “Sing unto God, unto Sing! Sing!”
After I finished up, I went into my office to start writing and got the idea down, then grabbed a bible to find some text to match so there would be more than three words in the song and found Psalm 108, which reads:
1My heart, O God, is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
After I found that scripture, the rest of the piece came very quickly and was finished the next night on January 23, 2009. I arranged the piece for handbell choir in the spring of 2010.
Watch the Nebraska Premiere by the Seward High Singers:
Text
Sing unto God unto sing
Sing unto God unto singSing unto the Lord, our god,
Whose glory lives in sweet beautiful song!
Sing unto the Lord, our god,
Whose glory lives in sweet beautiful song!Sing unto the Lord,
Unto the Lord who is the God of song.
Sing him praises!
Sing him praises!My heart is steadfast, oh God;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.Awake!
Awake the harp and lyre!
I will praise you, oh Lord among the nations.
I will praise you, oh Lord among the nations.I will sing of You among the peoples,
Be exalted, oh God, above the heavens,
And let your glory be over all the earth.Praise to the Lord of all the nations.
I will praise you, oh Lord among the nations.I shout in triumph:
Sing unto God!
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