Streams of Living Praise
$10.00
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Words by Malcolm Dalglish and Isaac Watts
Music by Malcolm Dalglish
Written for The Voices in the Laurel Choirs, Waynesville, North Carolina, Martha Youngwood, Director
This song is influenced by the “fuguing” hymns of the Sacred Harp tradition popular in Early American and English Country Churches of the 18th century. The music is bold and modal with open harmonies. There is often an opening homophonic section followed by imitational phrases in polyphony that come together in the end. Most of these songs were set for SATB mixed voices, with the melody in the Tenor voice. This song has the melody in the top voice. The Isaac Watts text featured in the refrain inspired this Hymn. The words written in 1709, “now shall my inward joys…” were set most notably by William Billings in his hymn, “Africa.” Isaac Watts led a revolution in early 18th century liturgical poetry and he is still considered to be one of the most prolific hymnodists in the English Language. His texts were very singable, and his imagery very powerful. His words in this song depict for me the way singing can be a transcendent experience in which the singer physically becomes a form of “living praise.”
