This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Haverhill
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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Haverhill by Elisha West — Lyrics
Oratio Moysi, hominis Dei. Domine, refugium factus es nobis a generatione in generationem.
Priusquam montes fierent, aut formaretur terra et orbis,
a saeculo et usque in saeculum tu es, Deus.
Ne avertas hominem in humilitatem: et dixisti: Convertimini, filii hominum.
Quoniam mille anni ante oculos tuos tamquam dies hesterna quae praeteriit: et custodia in nocte
quae pro nihilo habentur, eorum anni erunt.
Mane sicut herba transeat;
mane floreat, et transeat; vespere decidat, induret, et arescat.
Quia defecimus in ira tua, et in furore tuo turbati sumus.
Posuisti iniquitates nostras in conspectu tuo; saeculum nostrum in illuminatione vultus tui.
Quoniam omnes dies nostri defecerunt, et in ira tua defecimus.
Anni nostri sicut aranea meditabuntur;
dies annorum nostrorum in ipsis septuaginta anni.
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About Haverhill
This setting of Psalm 90 presents a profound meditation on the transience of human life contrasted with the eternal nature of God. The text, beginning with Moses' prayer, speaks of God as our refuge through generations, existing before mountains and the earth were formed. It acknowledges human frailty and sin, describing our days as fleeting as grass, flourishing in the morning and withering by evening. The composer Elisha West sets this weighty Latin text for SATB choir. The work likely offers a powerful musical reflection on humility, mortality, and divine constancy, suitable for sacred occasions where contemplation on these themes is desired.
