Psalm 48, Great is the Lord, Choir & Orchestra
Printed Sheet Music is also available via JW Pepper.
$2.50 – $45.00
Details
Choir & Orchestra Arrangement by Paul Ayres
Song duration: approximately 4:47
Conductor’s score is 21 pages in PDF format
Individual parts, 15 total, includes choral score
Recordings:
- London Voices and the London Symphony Orchestra, entitled Psalm 48, Great is the Lord, released on the Make A Joyful Noise! album in 2018
Orchestra Instrumentation: 1st & 2nd violin, viola, cell, bass, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, 1 timpani, 2 percussionists
Psalm 48, Great is the Lord, opens quietly with woodwinds that introduce altos singing “Great is the Lord.” The opening melody is completed by the end of verse 1, and then repeats for Verse 2 ending with “city of the great King.” Tenors sing verses 3 – 6, and then verses 1 and 2 are repeated again with altos and sopranos. The melody for verses 7 and 8 matches what the tenors sang in 3-6. The song proceeds with introducing other melodic lines using the same chordal structure, allowing for “rounding” to take place through to the end with gradual buildup to the finale. A fermata, or “false ending”, is near the end, allowing the woodwinds and altos to reprise the opening verses and melody before a dramatic finale.