And I saw a new heaven

This Sunday, February 20, Saint Philip’s Saint Nicholas Choir and Schola Cantorum will sing Choral Evensong, featuring some favorite Edwardian-era settings. I know it feels like I say this with some frequency, but it happens to be true! Not only will the choirs sing the rousing Evening Canticle set in D Major by George Dyson (1883-1964), but they will tackle a truly gem-like anthem by Edgar Bainton (1880-1956), And I saw a new heaven.

Although Bainton was a composer of serious works, including several symphonies, chamber music, songs, and works for chorus and orchestra, this one anthem rises to the top as his most popular work (as one sees when typing his name into the Spotify search box). This popularity might seem out of proportion or unfair, but I would suggest that Bainton managed to hit a perfect chord with this five-minute work, perfectly suiting musical materials to the text:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;
and there was no more sea.

And I John saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;
and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Revelation 21:1-4

A couple of moments are worth pointing out for the listener.

In the first stanza, Bainton builds up a mysterious, minor modal sound leading to a startling cadence (final harmonic motion) on the words “and there was no more sea.” We recognize Saint John’s expressed wonderment at seeing this entirely new, yet perhaps recognizable world.

This sense of revelation grows considerably as Saint John beholds the next scene: “And I John,” sung in rising figures with a marvelously colorful ninth chord that eventually shifts to a new harmonic area at “new Jerusalem.” No film score composer could have set this with more emotional immediacy, while still maintaining the somberness of the high topic.

After a rousing, celebratory middle section, describing the vision of God dwelling amidst humanity in this new city, Bainton writes a distinctly comforting melody at “and God shall wipe away all tears”—not simply “comforting” as in “soothing to the ear,” but by providing musical movements expressive of a meaningful resolution to human suffering.

There are two more great moments: a poignant harmony at the word “crying,” and later an urgent chromatic resolution at “for the former things are passed away.”

And I saw a new heaven, Edgar Bainton, King’s College Choir conducted by Daniel Hyde (https://youtu.be/Lyy7RWXAV9Q)

As always, we hope you will attend Evensong at 4:15pm this Sunday, February 20, and invite a friend.

—Justin Appel, Director of Music