This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Bondage
Staff Notation • Sacred
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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
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Bondage by Timothy Swan — Lyrics
Psalmus David, Jeremiae. Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, dum recordaremur Sion.
In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra:
quia illic interrogaverunt nos, qui captivos duxerunt nos, verba cantionum; et qui abduxerunt nos: Hymnum cantate nobis de canticis Sion.
Quomodo cantabimus canticum Domini in terra aliena?
Si oblitus fuero tui, Jerusalem, oblivioni detur dextera mea.
Adhaereat lingua mea faucibus meis, si non meminero tui; si non proposuero Jerusalem in principio laetitiae meae.
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About Bondage
This setting of Psalm 137, known as Super flumina Babylonis, is for SATB choir, blending Latin and English texts. It vividly portrays the sorrow of the Israelites exiled in Babylon, weeping as they recall Jerusalem. The text speaks of hanging their harps on willow trees, unable to sing the songs of Zion in a foreign land, and questioning how they can sing the Lord's song far from home. The composer captures the profound sense of loss and longing for their homeland, a powerful expression of spiritual and national displacement.
