This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Alarm
Staff Notation • Sacred
Preview
0
0
2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
SATB · Barry Johnston
Preview
Subscribed as
Want Sunday picks sent to another address too?
Free weekly email
Your choir should not be left out in what's trending
Sunday mass selections, psalms, and trending songs in your area — straight to your inbox.
Alarm by Stephen Jenks — Lyrics
Why do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?
'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to his arms.
Are we not tending upward too
As fast as time can move?
Read full lyrics
About Alarm
Stephen Jenks’s setting of Alarm for SATB choir offers a gentle, flowing musical response to a text contemplating mortality. The music moves with a quiet assurance, mirroring the comforting message of the hymn. The composer skillfully uses the voices to create a sense of peaceful acceptance and spiritual hope, rather than fear. The English lyrics address the common human anxieties surrounding death and separation, but frame them not as cause for alarm, but as the natural transition towards a loving divine embrace. The SATB texture provides a rich harmonic foundation, allowing the message of solace and enduring love to resonate with clarity and warmth.
