Sweet Chariot
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is perhaps one of the most well known African American spirituals. As beautiful and rapturing as its melody is, it should be. However, its beauty and popularity its often overlooked by the song’s true meaning about death. I have taken fragments of the melody and combined it with the gregorian chant from the Latin mass for the dead, In Paradisum. Its text is as follows: "May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and with Lazarus, once (a) poor (man), may you have eternal rest.”
This piece was commissioned by a consortium led by Robert Ambrose, Georgia State University.
Perusal Score:
Sweet Chariot
6 minutes
Wind Ensemble
Commissioned by a consortium led by Robert Ambrose, Georgia State University
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot is perhaps one of the most well known African American spirituals. As beautiful and rapturing as its melody is, it should be. However, its beauty and popularity its often overlooked by the song’s true meaning about death. I have taken fragments of the melody and combined it with the gregorian chant from the Latin mass for the dead, In Paradisum. Its text is as follows: "May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs receive you at your arrival and lead you to the holy city Jerusalem. May choirs of angels receive you and with Lazarus, once (a) poor (man), may you have eternal rest.”
This piece was commissioned by a consortium led by Robert Ambrose, Georgia State University.
Perusal Score: