Lovely Angels

from Angel of Light

SATB Chorus, Soprano Solo
Duration: 2 Minutes
Text: Traditional Shaker, Marcia Hastings, Canterbury, New Hampshire
Year: 2015

Commissioned by: Capitol Hill Chorale, Washington, DC
Premiered by: Capitol Hill Chorale, Frederick Binkholder, director, June 6 & 7, 2015

E. C. Schirmer “Dale Warland Choral Series” #8780

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J.W. Pepper
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  • Lovely Angels is the third movement of Angel of Light, a cantata based on Shaker texts and melodies. Adapted from a Shaker song by Marcia E. Hastings, Lovely Angels is a celebratory and exuberant choral movement featuring a text that moves between English and vocables. The use of non-lexical vocables and “unknown tongues” are common elements of early Shaker music and a prominent focus of Angel of Light.

  • O see the lovely angels,
    O see them all around;
    O hark, and hear their music—
    Blessed, blessed sound.

    Lo vana blance vone
    I le vasse nee
    They are S O U N D ing
    The trump of jubilee.

    PRONUNCIATION
    Lo vana blance vone
    [lo ˈva.na ˈblan.sə ˈvo.ne]

    I le vasse nee
    [aɪ lə ˈva.sə ni]