Promised Land

Program Text

While this text has a historically religious context, I instead envisioned the text in the context of early immigrants to America. I was captivated by imagining these travelers, many of whom uprooted their entire lives simply based on the promise of a better life. These people had no photographs, data, or real proof that their lives would be an improvement, but they were drawn by the stories of the New World. When I visualize my own future, I’m operating on the same faith in the stories of what could be. 

 

 

Throughout the piece, there are repeated stutters that mimic the breathless anticipation of seeing a distant shoreline coming into focus after a long voyage. Frequent tonal modulations not only suggest the lack of a permanent “home,” they also mirror the emotional flip-flop between doubts and excitements. The melody reflects across the voices in the choir at different speeds, much like the journeys to a new land would have differed from one explorer to the next. For me, it’s not about conveying a triumphant achievement, certainty, or unbridled confidence, because these were (and are) rarely the case for immigrants. Rather, I hope my arrangement of Matilda Durham’s Promised Land taps into a buzzing sizzle of hope.

 

This is part of Jen’s series “Three Arrangements of Works by Early Female Composers”

Voicing:

SATB a cappella

 

Duration:

3 minutes

 

Commissioner:

Commissioned by Jonathan Campbell for the Voces Feminae series

Text by Samuel Stennet (1727 – 1795)


On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.


I’m bound for the promised land,
I’m bound for the promised land;
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land


No chilling winds or poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and fear’d no more.


I’m bound for the promised land,
I’m bound for the promised land;
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land


When I shall reach that happy place,
I’ll be forever blest,
For I shall see my maker’s face,
And in that heart I’ll rest.


I’m bound for the promised land,
I’m bound for the promised land;
Oh, who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land