Batter My Heart
A setting of one of John Donne’s Holy Sonnets for mixed chorus with piano accompaniment.
Duration: 5' 35"
Difficulty: 4/5 (Difficulty Rating Overview)
Listen on YouTube
-
Mixed Chorus (divisi, no solos)
Piano
-
Batter my heart, three-person'd God
from Holy Sonnets
John Donne (1572–1631)
Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurp’d town to another due,
Labor to admit you, but oh, to no end;
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captiv’d, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be lov’d fain,
But am betroth’d unto your enemy;
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
-
PROGRAM NOTES
J.A.C. Redford
“Batter my heart, three-person’d God,” the passionate sonnet by 16th-century poet John Donne, may sound inappropriately violent to 21st-century ears, especially with regard to one’s relationship with God. To the poet, however, this metaphor is apt in describing a soul which has been taken over, or “usurped.” The poem is like a message from a kidnap victim, pleading for rescue at all costs. In this case, the kidnapper is in fact the self, which has barricaded the doors of its own heart in order to preserve a tiny patch of sovereignty. Even Reason, which ought to govern the self, proves “weak or untrue.” The soul who longs to love and be loved can only be freed from its captor by overwhelming, divine strength. My setting was composed in response to this complex interplay of word and idea. The principal motif hammers like a battering ram. The sonnet’s trinitarian theme is reflected in the music’s triple meter and use of hemiola. The climactic musical phrase cascades into the word “free.” This longing for freedom is one of the deepest desires of the human heart. Yet for Donne, it is not treacherous self-determination that fulfills it, but the freedom of complete and utter harmony with the Love that fires the sun and moves the stars.
PUBLISHER’S NOTES
G. Schirmer (Dale Warland Choral Series)
Hollywood composer, arranger and Raymond Brock-commissioned composer J.A.C. Redford has become known in all medium for his ability to convey strong emotions in his music. This is especially true in this new work. Wide dynamic contrasts, big ranges and a pulsating rhythm create a powerful new work for advanced choirs.
-
Batter My Heart was commissioned by John Dickson and the Louisiana State University A Cappella Choir. It was presented on 11 March 2016 at an interest session, “The Music of J.A.C. Redford,” for the 2016 regional conference of the Southern Division of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). Batter My Heart was first performed publicly on 24 April 2016 at the First United Methodist Church, Baton Rouge, LA by the commissioning ensemble.
In August 2016, John Dickson and the choir performed the work at Winchester Cathedral for the Gala Concert of the Association of British Choral Directors (ABCD).
Batter My Heart is published by G. Schirmer as part of its Dale Warland Choral Series.