Africa (William Billings)
Music files
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- (Posted 2016-09-20) CPDL #41169:
- Editor: Aaron Giles (submitted 2016-09-20). Score information: Letter, 2 pages, 41 kB Copyright: Public Domain
- Edition notes: Transcribed from "The Singing Master's Assistant"
- CPDL #09030:
Finale 2002
- Editor: Stuart Lauters (submitted 2003-03-09). Score information: Letter, 1 page, 98 kB Copyright: CPDL
- Edition notes:
- CPDL #00030: Finale 1998
- Editor: Rafael Ornes (submitted 1999-08-06). Score information: Letter, 1 page, 28 kB Copyright: CPDL
- Edition notes:
General Information
Title: Africa
Composer: William Billings
Lyricist: Isaac Watts
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Hymn Meter: 86. 86 (C.M.)
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
{{Published}} is obsolete (code commented out), replaced with {{Pub}} for works and {{PubDatePlace}} for publications. –1781
Description: The Singing Master's Assistant, 3rd ed. (1781)
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Now shall my inward joys arise,
And burst into a song;
Almighty love inspires my heart;
And pleasure tunes my tongue.
God on his thirsty Zion hill
Some mercy drops has thrown,
And solemn oaths have bound his love
To shower salvation down.
Why do we then indulge our fears,
Suspicions, and complaints?
Is he a God, and shall his grace
Grow weary of his saints?
Can a kind woman e'er forget
The infant of her womb?
And 'mongst a thousand tender thoughts
Her suckling have no room?
"Yet," saith the Lord, "should nature change,
And mothers monsters prove,
Zion still dwells upon the heart
Of everlasting love.
"Deep on the palms of both my hands
I have engraved her name;
My hands shall raise her ruined walls,
And build her broken frame."