This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Halifax
Staff Notation • Sacred, Hymns
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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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Halifax by William Billings — Lyrics
Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam:
super misericordia tua et veritate tua;
nequando dicant gentes: Ubi est Deus eorum?
Deus autem noster in caelo; omnia quaecumque voluit fecit.
Simulacra gentium argentum et aurum, opera manuum hominum.
Os habent, et non loquentur; oculos habent, et non videbunt.
Aures habent, et non audient; nares habent, et non odorabunt.
Manus habent, et non palpabunt; pedes habent, et non ambulabunt; non clamabunt in gutture suo.
Similes illis fiant qui faciunt ea, et omnes qui confidunt in eis.
Domus Israël speravit in Domino; adjutor eorum et protector eorum est.
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About Halifax
William Billings’s Halifax is a bold and energetic setting for SATB chorus. The composer’s distinctive American-born musical language is immediately apparent in the robust vocal writing, which is both direct and powerful. Though presented here with English lyrics, the original text is a well-known passage from Psalm 115, often used in sacred music. The words speak of the vanity of idols compared to the true God, who is in heaven and has made all things. The music’s resolute character perfectly matches the text’s affirmation of faith and the declaration that the Lord is our help and our shield.
