Easter Anthem (William Billings)

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• (Posted 2010-09-25)  CPDL #22281: 

Editor: Michael Lauer (submitted 2010-09-11).   Score information: Letter, 5 pages, 127 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: Includes section added after initial publication.

• (Posted 2007-12-11)  CPDL #15640: 

Editor: Michael Lauer (submitted 2007-12-11).   Score information: Letter, 6 pages, 152 kB   Copyright: Personal

Edition notes: Includes section added after initial publication.

• (Posted 1999-05-28)  CPDL #00035:        (Finale 1998)

Editor: Rafael Ornes (submitted 1999-05-28).   Score information: Letter, 5 pages, 88 kB   Copyright: CPDL

Edition notes: revised 07-Apr-2000.

General Information

Title: Easter Anthem
First Line: The Lord is risen indeed
Composer: William Billings
Lyricist: Edward Young

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Anthem

Language: English
Instruments: A cappella

First published: 1787 as Works published separately 1787-1790 (see Kroeger 1987), no. 1
Description: 

References

• Kroeger, Karl. 1987. William Billings' Anthem For Easter: The Persistence of an Early American "hit". Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society 1987, pp. 105-128.

Original text and translations

Text arranged from Edward Young's "The Complaint", or "Night Thoughts", "Night Four", 1741-44

English text

The Lord is ris'n indeed,
Hallelujah.
Now is Christ risen from the dead,
and become the first fruits of them that slept.
Hallelujah.
And did He rise?
Hear, O ye nations, hear it, O ye dead.
He rose, He burst the bars of death,
He burst the bars of death and triumph'd o'er the grave.
Then I rose,
then first humanity triumphant passed the crystal ports of light,
and seiz'd eternal youth.
Man, all immortal hail, hail,
Heaven, all lavish of strange gifts to man,
Thine's all the glory, man's the boundless bliss.