distress TTBB div., unaccompanied
Reginald Unterseher, arr.
© 2015 Reginald Unterseher reginaldunterseher.com
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So fades the lovely, blooming ow'r; Frail, smiling solace of an hour; So soon our transient comforts y, And pleasure only blooms to die. Is there no kind, no healing art To soothe the anguish of the heart? Spirit of grace, be ever nigh; Thy comforts are not made to die. Let gently patience smile on pain, Till dying hope revives again; Hope wipes the tear from sorrow's eye, And faith points upward to the sky. ---Anne Steele, 1760
This poem, thought written in 1760 as a hymn and appearing in Southern Harmony and other hymnals, is not so much theological as it is a heart-wrenching expression of sorrow and loss. Anne Steele was no stranger to this subject matter. Her mother died when Anne was only three years old. When she was 19, Anne sustained an injury to her hip, which left her permanently disabled. She was engaged to be married when she was 21, and on the day of her wedding, her ance drowned. This setting was inspired by the Civil War soldiers who would have known this tune and words from the hymnals of the time. The music starts with a quiet statement of fragments of the tune over a drone, like the soldiers in the quiet introspection of a night in the eld. We then hear the rst verse over a minimal accompaniment. The second verse begins with a driving, marching accomopaniment, with the verse now stated in a more bitter, angry way with an overlay reminiscent of the ghosts of their fallen comrades. In the last verse, we hear resignation and acceptance as all the voices come together, before going back to a re ection of the opening. The tune, DISTRESS, is unattributed in Southern Harmony, and was probably written by William Walker.
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for Male Ensemble Northwest
distress TTBB div., unaccompanied words: Anne Steele tune: DISTRESS from "Southern Harmony," pub. 1831
Tenor I
Reginald Unterseher, arr. 18 September, 2015
keening = 60
Tenor II
Bass I
6
T. I
T. II
B. I
B. II
* hmm
Bass II
* hmm
hmm
* use audible "h" throughout
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
© 2015 Reginald Unterseher reginaldunterseher.com
hmm
hmm
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4
distress
10
T. I
T. II
B. I
B. II
15 T. I T. II
B. I
B. II
hmm
love - ly bloom - ing
ow’r,
love - ly bloom - ing
ow’r,
So
fades the
So
fades the
hmm
drained, empty
Frail, smil - ing
sol - ace
of
an
Frail, smil - ing
sol - ace
of
an
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distress
19 T. I
hour,
T. II
hour,
B. I
B. II
B. I
B. II
So
So
soon our
And
And
tran - sient
soon our
com - forts
tran - sient
23 T. I T. II
5
y,
plea - sure
plea - sure
-
on
-
on
ly
ly
com - forts
y,
blooms to
die.
blooms to
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die.
6
distress
26 T. I T. II
B. I
B. II
29 T. I T. II
B. I
toom
too too too
too
toom
toom
toom
toom toom
B. II
A trudging = 64
too
toom toom
toom
too too too
too
too
too too too
too
too
bitterly, non-legato
toom
Is
there
toom toom
to
too too too
too
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too
molto legato distress
32 T. I T. II
B. I
kind,
B. II
T. II
B. I
B. II
toom
an -
toom
too too too
too
heal - ing
toom
soothe the
toom
oo
toom
34 T. I
no
oo
toom
7
too
too
toom
toom
too too too
toom
too
toom
of
art
- guish
toom
To
too too too
too
too
the
heart?
toom
too too too
too
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too
8
distress
36 T. I T. II
B. I
toom
B. II
toom
39 T. I T. II
B. I
B. II
-
Spi
toom
rit
of
grace,
be
too too too
too
too
Thy
toom
com - forts
are
not
too too too
oo
ev - er
toom
oo
high;
made to
die.
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distress
B molto legato = 56
42
T. I
9
Let
B. II
Let
gen - tle
pa - tience smile on
pain,
Let
gen - tle
pa - tience smile on
pain,
46 T. I
hope
T. II
B. I
Let
dy - ing
T. II
B. I
B. II
gen - tle
pa - tience smile on
pain,
gen - tle
pa - tience smile on
pain,
a
-
a
-
a
-
dy - ing
hope
re -
- vives
dy - ing
hope
re -
- vives
dy - ing
hope
re -
re -
- vives
with resignation in every breath take your time on the rests
- vives
a
-
gain;
gain;
gain;
gain;
Till
Till
Till
Till
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48 T. I
10
T. II
Bar.
B. I
B. II
wipes
the
tear
from
sor - row’s
Hope
wipes
the
tear
sor - row’s
wipes
from
Hope
tear
sor - row’s
the
from
wipes
tear
Hope
the
from
sor - row’s
wipes
the
tear
from
sor - row’s
hmm
eye
eye
B. I
eye,
Bar.
Hope
50 T. I T. II
distress
B. II
ah
ah
Hope
and faith points up - ward
hmm
a piacere
to
glide from ah through oh to mm
glide from ah through oh to mm This score is not licensed for performance. Please visit MusicSpoke.com to purchase performance copies.
the
sky.
distress
54 T. I
quasi a tempo = 54
T. II
Bar.
B. I
B. II
T. II
Bar.
hmm
B. I
58
T. I
B. II
11
hmm
hmm
hmm
molto rall.
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
hmm
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