Awake!

Some years ago, at our previous parish, a chorister in my husband's children's choir came to him with a dream she had recently had. The young lady's name was Natalie. She described her dream as one in which the choir was singing and Phillip was conducting a piece that ended with multiple parts/layers singing "alleluia" over and over. She said to Phillip, "It was glorious!" and he responded with a smile, "Well, maybe I will just have to write a piece like that for us to sing!" He ended up doing just that, and the piece was premiered that year at Easter.

Over fifteen years later, children are still singing this piece. Here is a video of our fourth and fifth grade choir singing it in church today. The song is called "Awake!" and it is a setting of the Paul Gerhardt hymn "Awake, My Heart, with Gladness." The music is original, composed by my husband, although you may hear some hints of the tune AUF, AUF MEIN HERZ, with which the text is paired in our hymnal, Lutheran Service Book. Isn't it cool that a 20th-century cantor can collaborate with a 17th-century hymn writer to create a new song for God's people to sing today? I hope you enjoy this beautiful expression of the Lord's song by some of the children of our parish.


"Awake!" from Cheryl on Vimeo.