English.
Yes, it's KUM BA YAH! But this sensitive and sweet setting for SATB and Piano is not to be missed. In one spot it is suggested that the piano plays a guided improvisation over the choir singing neutral syllables. In another there is the option to sing unaccompanied. There is a quote of the hymn tune NICAEA (Holy, Holy, Holy) in the accompaniment. An emotional high point occurs when the sections each sing out their situations, longing, falling, hiding, rising, aching, laughing, praising, finding, breathing, dying. Then answer together, You are here. This work hits every high mark in terms of vocal writing, a skillful accompaniment, and a beautiful effect.
Notes from Kyle Pederson:
Though the origin of this song is not entirely settled, with various people claiming authorship, most recent scholarship and unearthed recordings clearly point to Come By Here as an African American spiritual. I grew up singing Kumbaya around the fire at every church camp and retreat--the ubiquity and simplicity of this tune perhaps numbing me to its extraordinary power. Early manuscripts and recordings indicate the original lyrics likely included somebody needs you, Lord...somebody's sick, Lord....somebody's in trouble, Lord....somebody's dyin' Lord...come by here. What a powerful plea--all the more impactful and heartbreaking as it was first voiced by those forced into bondage and held in slavery their entire lives.
In my own arrangement, I want to honor those original voices--which continue to speak to us in our own circumstances and allow us to give voice to our own heartbreak and yearning for God's spirit to come near. And in every arrangement I craft, I seek ways to perhaps allow the piece to speak in a new way. In this adaptation of Come By Here, there are two particular ways I seek to expand the meaning: first, the piano accompaniment is improvisatory in nature--intended to symbolize the creative movement of God's spirit. Second, though I love the invitational nature of the lyric (come by here, Lord)...I also believe that God's spirit already is with us in all of our circumstances. In our joy, grief, rising, falling, living, dying--God is there with us, working toward wholeness and healing. So the lyric morphs into a more declamatory statement of You are here as the piece reaches its climax. And those words are the final words the listener hears, as well. |
