My Lord, What a Morning

Flute
Oboe
English Horn
2 Clarinets in A
Bassoon
4 Horns in F
Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion

Suspended Cymbal, Triangle, Mark Tree, Chimes, Glockenspiel, Celesta

Harp
SATB Choir
Strings

The beautiful and moving African American spiritual, “My Lord, what a morning,” presents an apocalyptic vision of Christ’s triumphant return. Its numerous descriptions of the Second Coming have their foundations in scripture. “You will hear the trumpet sound” is a reference to 1 Corinthians 15:52, telling how, when Christ returns, “The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.” Another powerful metaphor in this hymn is “the stars begin to fall.” Revelation 6:12-13 provides a stark description of the end of the world: “And lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth.” A similar recurring image in each verse is the allusion to waking “the nations underground.” Scripture states that on that final morning, the dead will be victoriously resurrected to new life.

This imaginative new setting for SATB choir and orchestra by Douglas Mears seeks to illuminate and intensify the many dramatic images presented in this beloved spiritual.