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The Peaceable Kingdom (Randall Thompson)

I. Say ye to the rightous

Say ye to the righteous, it shall be well with him:
For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him;
For the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart,
But ye shall cry for sorrow of heart
And shall howl for vexation of spirit.

II. Woe unto them

Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity,
and sin as it were with a cart rope!
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light and light for darkness;
that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Woe unto them that art mighty to drink wine,
and men of strength to mingle strong drink!
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink;
that continue till night, till wine inflame them!
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe,
And wine are in their feasts;
But they regard not the work of the Lord,
Neither consider the operations of His hands.
Woe to the multitude of many people,
which make a noise like the noise of the seas!
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field,
Till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth.

III. The noise of a multitude

The noise of the multitude in the mountains, like as a great people:
A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together;
The Lord of Hosts mustereth the host of the battle.
They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the Lord,
And the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces;
And they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye shall not spare children.
Everyone that is found shall be thrust through;
And everyone that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword.
Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes;
Their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.
Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt.
They shall be afraid: pangs and sorrow shall take hold of them;
They shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth;
They shall be amazed at one another; their faces shall be as flames.

IV. Howl ye

Howl ye: for the day of the Lord is at hand.
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou art dissolved.

V. The paper reeds by the brooks

The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks,
And everything sown by the brooks,
Shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

VI. But these are they that forsake the lord

But these are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain.
For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace:
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
And all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.

VII. have ye not known

Have ye not known? Have ye not heard?
Hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

VIII. Ye shall have a song

Ye shall have a song,
As in the night when a holy solemnity is kept;
And gladness of heart,
As when one goes with a pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord.

Fern Hill (John Corilgiano)

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green
The night above the dingle starry
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes
And honored among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home
In the sun that is young once only
Time lеt me play and be
Golden in thе mercy of his means
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold
And the sabbath rang slowly
In the pebbles of the holy streams

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
And playing, lovely and watery
And fire green as grass
And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
Flying with the ricks, and the horses
Flashing into the dark

And then to awake, and the farm, like a wanderer white
With the dew, come back, the cock on his shoulder: it was all
Shining, it was Adam and maiden
The sky gathered again
And the sun grew round that very day
So it must have been after the birth of the simple light
In the first, spinning place, the spellbound horses walking warm
Out of the whinnying green stable
On to the fields of praise

And honored among foxes and pheasants by the gay house
Under the new made clouds and happy as the heart was long
In the sun born over and over
I ran my heedless ways
My wishes raced through the house high hay
And nothing I cared, at my sky blue trades, that time allows
In all his tuneful turning so few and such morning songs
Before the children green and golden
Follow him out of grace

Nothing I cared, in the lamb white days, that time would take me
Up to the swallow thronged loft by the shadow of my hand
In the moon that is always rising
Nor that riding to sleep
I should hear him fly with the high fields
And wake to the farm forever fled from the childless land
Oh as I was young and easy in the mercy of his means
Time held me green and dying
Though I sang in my chains like the sea

Dreamweaver (Ola Gjeilo)

I. Prologue

I sing the sacred vision
Of the All-Wise Wanderer,
The Weaver of Dreams.

On Christmas Eve he fell asleep,
So deep, so deep,
And woke upon Epiphany
With tales to tell.

He hurried to the holy Mass
And stood upon the threshold;
The warp and weft of wandering
He wove into his tale.

II. Dreamsong

Listen, Listen

And this was his dreamsong:
My journey began
In a rugged land,
Hard and fast
And unforgiving.
I made my way.

And this was his dreamsong
Listen, Listen

III. The Bridge

Beasts there were,
And wilder things,
And shades of night
Were in that land;
I was afraid.

The monster’s claws
Tore at my cloak;
With piercing eyes
They saw my soul.
I ran away.

For many leagues
I traveled west
Until at last—
My journey’s end—
I saw the Bridge!

Stretching out
Across the sky,
The way was barred
To all but wise.
I went across.

This bridge was spanned across a sea of ice—
A silver band, a way to Paradise.
A fair wide land did open up at last;
I stopped to stand where Future reckons Past.

And in that place the Pilgrim Church did rise
Where, full of grace, our Holy Mother wise
Bade me embrace her heart of gold and red;
And o’er her face a loving smile was spread.

I met a man, whose coat was stained in blood,
All mired was he, up to his knees in mud;
He held a frightened child under his arm,
And bitterly he wept for causing harm.

IV. Intermezzo

V. Paradise

She spoke in gentle tone and bade me go
Where every sin is known, where cold winds blow,
Unto the very throne of God to see
Where sorrow is unknown, forgiveness, free.

VI. Dominion

And through darkness appeared the Christ,
wreathed in light, flanked by saints and angels beyond number,
and crowned as King and Judge over all the earth.
The Deceiver turned in fear,
and fled from before the Glory of the Lord and the Host of Heaven.

Among the souls
Who trembled there
Burdened down
With sin and fear,
I took my place.

To Christ the Judge
St. Michael spoke,
Defending us
Despite our shame.
I hung my head.

So one by one
We stood alone
Before our Maker
And our Judge.
He called my name.

His burning heart
Loved away my shame,
And forged my soul
Anew by Grace–
I was redeemed!

VII. Epilogue

Cloaked all in lead another fell,
Laden with burdens heavy;
She lost her soul in fear of hell
In hope that she might be free.

Others there were by pain ensnared
By their grief and tribulation
Hoping that they may yet be spared
And praying for salvation

He forged their souls
Anew by Grace–
And all were redeemed.