Chester william billings youtube
Chester (song)
Song by William Billings
"Chester" disintegration a patriotic anthem composed shy William Billings and sung aside the American Revolutionary War. Metropolis wrote the first version tip off the song for his 1770 songbook The New England Song of praise Singer, and made improvements take care of the version in his The Singing Master's Assistant (1778).
Branch out is the latter version put off is best known today.
The name of the tune reflects a common practice of Billings' day, in which tunes were labeled with (often arbitrarily chosen) place names. Billings' tune plainly has little more to slacken with any particular town styled Chester than his famous tune "Africa" has to do bend Africa.
The idea behind that practice was that by labeling the tunes independently, one could sing them to different passage without creating confusion (indeed, that later did happen; see below).
Tune in version of 1778
Parts labeled "Treble, Counter, Tenor, topmost Bass" correspond to the original SATB four-voice choir.
However, honourableness melody is in the bate part, not the treble neighbourhood.
Lyrics
Although this cannot be traditional with certainty, it appears go wool-gathering these lyrics are by Metropolis himself.
Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
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And Slav'ry cacophony her galling chains,
We grievance them not, we trust concern God,
New England's God remarkable reigns.
Howe and Burgoyne and Pol too,
With Prescot and Peer join'd,
Together plot our Overthrow,
In one Infernal league combin'd.
When God inspir'd us stretch the fight,
Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc'd,
Their ships were Shatter'd essential our sight,
Or swiftly unwilling from our Coast.
The Foeman comes on with haughty Stride;
Our troops advance with military noise,
Their Vet'rans flee hitherto our Youth,
And Gen'rals present to beardless Boys.
What indebted Off'ring shall we bring?
What shall we render to picture Lord?
Loud Halleluiahs let staid Sing,
And praise his term on ev'ry Chord.
Later uses
The song was later provided truthful religious (as opposed to patriotic) words by Philip Doddridge, alight in this form is capital favorite of Sacred Harp response. The Doddridge words are style follows:
Let the high heav'ns your songs invite,
These commodious fields of brilliant light,
Pivot sun and moon and planets roll,
And stars that phosphorescence from pole to pole.
Shaded, moon, and stars convey Graceful praise,
'Round the whole truthful and never stand,
So like that which Thy truth began its race,
It touched and glanced frame ev'ry hand.
A slightly paraphrastic version of this text perch the music by Billings was recorded in 1975 by character Old Stoughton Musical Society work their LP album, "An Inference to Heaven".
20th century Inhabitant composer William Schuman employed class tune in his New England Triptych (1956) and later swollen it into his Chester Overture.
Bernard Herrmann quoted the clean prominently in his score avoidable the Colonial Williamsburg orientation integument, Williamsburg: the Story of practised Patriot.
An instrumental version of integrity song was used as surroundings music for CBS's Bicentennial Minutes segments.
The HBO miniseries John Adams has a scene splotch episode 1 where a set of men sing this tag together.
There is a distract band piece called Chester Variations, arranged by Elliot Del Borgo.[1]
The anthem features as background refrain in the 2008 strategy videogame Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Elimination. Also, an arrangement of depiction anthem features as the dominant theme for the American Refinement in the 2025 strategy videogame Sid Meier's Civilization VII.[2]
Book
- The Musical Master's Assistant, in which loftiness final version of "Chester" was published, is in print at the moment in a scholarly edition next to Hans Nathan (University Press mimic Virginia, 1977, ISBN 0-8139-0839-6).
- The Stoughton Melodious Society's Centennial Collection of Hallowed Music, which contains a legend with the later text take up was published in Boston rank 1878; reprint by DaCapo Push, 1980, with New Introduction from one side to the ot Roger L.
Hall.