Watts' Cradle Hymn
SATB choral/organ score
PEL2055-Choir and Organ
A SETTING OF THE ISAAC WATTS POEM TO A TRADITIONAL AMERICAN MELODY FOR SATB CHOIR AND ORGAN.
Isaac Watts' (1674-1748) lovely lyrics, a lullaby for his own child, are set to a traditional American melody in an arrangement by Halley that is simple, poignant, and hauntingly beautiful. The melody is introduced against a transparent organ underlay by the sopranos, and the piece then develops as a canon for SA and TB voicing.
Video
Notes
Included on the recording "What Child Is This?" with Chorus Angelicus and Gaudeamus, directed by Paul Halley (PEL1005)
Texts
Watts' Cradle Hymn
Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Music: American Traditional, adapted and arranged by Paul Halley (1952 - )
Hush! my dear, lie still and slumber;
Holy angels guard thy bed!
Heav'nly blessings without number
Gently falling on thy head.
Sleep, my babe; thy food and raiment,
House and home thy friends provide:
All without thy care or payment,
All thy wants are well supplied.
How much better thou'rt attended
Than the Son of God could be,
When from heaven he descended,
And became a child like thee!
Soft and easy is thy cradle,
Coarse and hard thy Savior lay,
When his birth-place was a stable
And his softest bed was hay.
Lo! he slumbers in his manger,
Where the hornèd oxen fed;
Peace, my darling, here's no danger,
Here's no ox a-near thy bed.
May'st thou live to know and fear him,
Trust and love him all thy days;
Then go dwell for ever near him,
See his face and sing his praise!
Reviews
"The sweet, transparent sound imparting something inimitable and irreplaceable: innocent wonder at the season."
- The Choral Journal
" I am particularly thrilled with the arrangements of What Child Is This, Angelus Ad Virginem and Watts’ Cradle Hymn." - Richard Gladwell, With Heart and Voice, NPR
