Unreleased recordings from
“William Billings - 250th Birthday Celebration”
Below are the selections from WASO’s 1996 concert which, because of time and space constraints, could not be included on the original Albany Records recording.
Here is the original program books from the William Billings concert, downloadable as a PDF file:
From “William Billings - 250th Birthday Celebration,” October 7, 1996 - Christ & St. Stephen’s Church, NYC
Text - Song of Solomon / W. Billings
I am come into my Garden, my Sister, my Spouse;
I have gathered my Myrrh with my Spice,
I have eaten my Honeycomb with my Honey;
I have drank my Wine with my Milk;
eat, O Friends, abundantly, and drink, O Friends, abundantly.
I sleep, but my Heart waketh;
it is the voice of my Beloved saying:
Open to me, my Sister, my Love, my Dove, my undefiled,
for my Head is fill'd with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night.
I open'd to my Beloved,
but my Beloved had withdrawn himself, and he was gone.
I sought him, but I could not find him;
I call'd him, but he gave me no Answer.
Stay me with Flagons, Comfort me with Apples,
for I am sick of Love.
Make haste, my Beloved, and be like a Roe or a young Hart
upon the Mountains of Spices.
Text - Song of Solomon / W. Billings
(This performance with instruments only.)
I charge you, O ye Daughters of Jerusalem,
that you stir not up nor awake my Love till he please.
If you see my Beloved tell him I am sick of Love.
What is thy Beloved more than another,
O thou fairest among Women?
My Beloved is white and ruddy,
the Chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely;
his Head is as Gold, and his Eyes are like Doves,
and his Hair is as black as a Raven.
Text - Dr. Isaac Watts
Thus saith the high and lofty One,
”I sit upon my holy Throne:
My Name is God, I dwell on high;
Dwell in my own Eternity.”
Text - Dr. Isaac Watts
Thus saith the high and lofty One,
”I sit upon my holy Throne:
My Name is God, I dwell on high;
Dwell in my own Eternity.”
Text - Dr. Isaac Watts
My Flesh shall slumber in the Ground,
’Till the last Trumpet’s joyful Sound:
Then burst the Chains with sweet Surprise,
And in my Saviour’s Image rise.
This Life’s a Dream, an empty Show,
But that bright World to which I go
Hath Joys substantial and sincere.
When shall I wake and fine me there?
Text - Nicholas Brady and Nahum Tate
Thus saith the high and lofty One,
”I sit upon my holy Throne:
My Name is God, I dwell on high:
Dwell in my own Eternity.”
Text - Sundry Scriptures / William Billings
By the Rivers of Watertown we sat down and wept,
when we remember'd thee, O Boston.
As for our Friends, Lord God of Heaven, preserve them,
defend them, deliver and restore them unto us again.
For they that held them in Bondage required of them to take up
Arms against their Brethren.
Forbid it, Lord God, forbid that those who have sucked Bostonian Breasts
should thirst for American Blood.
A voice was heard in Roxbury which echo'd thro' the Continent,
weeping for Boston because of their Danger.
Is Boston my dear Town, is it my native Place?
For since their Calamity I do earnestly remember it still.
If I forget thee, yea, if I do not remember thee,
Then Let my numbers cease to flow, Then be my Muse unkind,
Then let my Tongue forget to move and ever be confin'd;
Let horrid Jargon split the Air and rive my nerves asunder.
Let hateful discord greet my ear as terrible as Thunder.
Let harmony be banish'd hence and Consonance depart;
Let dissonance erect her throne and reign within my Heart.
Text - Perez Morton
When Jesus wept, the falling Tear,
In Mercy flow’d beyond all Bound;
When Jesus groan’d a trembling Fear,
Seiz’d all the guilty World around.
(Performed in the concert as an instrumental)
Text - Rev. Dr. Mather Byles
Great God, how frail a Thing is Man!
How swift his Minutes pass!
His Age contracts within a Span;
He blooms and dies like Grass.
And must my Moments thus decline,
and must I sink to Death?
To Thee my Spirit I resign,
Thou Maker of my Breath.
Music and Text by William Billings
Arrangement by William Billings and William McClelland
Let horrid Jargon split the Air,
And rive the Nerves asunder,
Let hateful discord greet the Ear,
As terrible as Thunder.
Note: This is the first time Billings’s Jargon has ever been realized as the composer conceived it.
Click here to read how it was done.