Angels Hovering Round

SATB chorus
Duration: 3.5 Minutes
Text: Traditional text
Year: 2014

Commissioned by The Capitol Hill Chorale
Premiered by The Capitol Hill Chorale, Washington, DC, Frederick Binkholder, director, March 22, 2014

G. Schirmer "Dale Warland Choral Series" #50601114

 
To purchase print or for more info go to: http://bit.ly/2lys8LY To purchase and download score: http://bit.ly/2MsEQXX For promotional use only. Not to be used in conjunction with any performance. This sturdy arrangement is based on a spiritual folk song that appeared in a number of American hymnals beginning in the mid 19th century.
 

  • Angels Hovering Round is a setting of a rarely heard American folk spiritual, adapted and re-imagined for eight-part a cappella choir. The original tune can be found in The Revivalist, a collection of songs and hymns compiled by Joseph Hillman in 1868. Two small ensembles of soprano soloists introduce the first verse over a simple, undulating choral texture. The full choir then assumes the second and third verses in a more robust and homophonic style, culminating in a buoyant section in which gentle, enveloping sonorities bring the mesmerizing repetition of the text to the fore. The piece closes with an echo of the opening choral texture. For soprano soli section, two ensembles of 3 to 4 soprano soloists are recommended for performance by large choirs; chamber choirs may find single soloists effective.

  • There are angels hovering ‘round,
    There are angels hovering ‘round,
    There are angels hovering ‘round.

    I am on my journey home,
    I am on my journey home,
    I am on my journey home.

    To the New Jerusalem,
    To the New Jerusalem,
    To the New Jerusalem.