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How Can I Keep From Singing? Robert Lowry (1826-1899) Arranged by Elizabeth Pauly with new lyric by Craig Hergert (verse 4) My life flows on in endless song above earth's lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. Above the tumult and the strife I hear its music ringing, It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? What though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the truth, it liveth. What though the darkness 'round me close, songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I'm clinging. Since love is lord of heaven and earth how can I keep from singing? When tyrants tremble sick with fear and hear their death knell ringing, when friends rejoice both far and near how can I keep from singing? In prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them go winging, when friends by shame are undefiled how can I keep from singing? Here in our city of the lakes, Drought sometimes does come to us. With all our hardships and mistakes, What then can renew us? When friends arrive from all the world With all the songs they’re bringing With all these flags richly unfurled How can we keep from singing?

How Can I Keep From Singing - doctorlizmusic.com€¦ · How Can I Keep From Singing? Robert Lowry ... With all the songs they’re bringing ... Swahili, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew

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How Can I Keep From Singing? Robert Lowry (1826-1899) Arranged by Elizabeth Pauly with new lyric by Craig Hergert (verse 4) My life flows on in endless song above earth's lamentations, I hear the real, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. Above the tumult and the strife I hear its music ringing, It sounds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? What though the tempest loudly roars, I hear the truth, it liveth. What though the darkness 'round me close, songs in the night it giveth. No storm can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I'm clinging. Since love is lord of heaven and earth how can I keep from singing? When tyrants tremble sick with fear and hear their death knell ringing, when friends rejoice both far and near how can I keep from singing? In prison cell and dungeon vile our thoughts to them go winging, when friends by shame are undefiled how can I keep from singing? Here in our city of the lakes, Drought sometimes does come to us. With all our hardships and mistakes, What then can renew us? When friends arrive from all the world With all the songs they’re bringing With all these flags richly unfurled How can we keep from singing?

Notes In its original form, this was a Christian hymn. The tune was composed by Robert Lowry (1826-1899). The text and tune were first published (together) in Lowry’s Bright Jewels for the Sunday School (New York: Biglow & Main, 1869), p. 16. The origin of the lyrics is in some dispute. The first three verses of the lyrics above are in wide circulation especially among the folk circuit, and were popularized by Pete Seeger. According to Wikipedia, Pete learned the lyrics from a woman named Doris Plenn, who learned it from her North Carolina family.1 However, there is no citation for this claim. In David Dunaway's biography of Pete Seeger, he writes Once, soon after Seeger had been sentenced to a year in jail, he told an audience in Providence his thoughts on why humans sing: "Some people sing because they're so happy they just can't stop. Some people sing to keep their spirits from going five miles below Hell. And some sing just to keep their courage up." Then Pete said he wanted to sing them a hymn "made up years ago when people were getting thrown in jail for their beliefs."2 At that point he sang "How Can I Keep From Singing", with lyrics close to those printed above. These lyrics are powerful and decidedly more secular than the original. It is these lyrics that seem to be in the widest circulation. Craig Hergert, a member of the English faculty at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, crafted the final verse, included in this arrangement. The choirs at MCTC approached me a while ago about finding a special song for them. They wanted a song that belonged to them – one that they could sing for any occasion – that reflected their values, their hopes and their dreams. After searching for an extended period of time, I finally decided that there wasn’t anything out there – that I would need to create something my self. This song, one that I have always loved, seemed perfect for the choirs, but it lacked the sense of place and community special to MCTC. Considering this problem, I contacted my friend and colleague (and member of the Lunch Break Choir) MCTC English Faculty member Craig Hergert. Craig has a gift for crafting lyrics and knows our students well. I described what I was looking for, and the end result is the beautiful final lyric that you see above. This arrangement, created especially for the MCTC Choirs, is fairly simple in structure. The women state the melody in the first verse. Then, for the second verse, the altos and sopranos sing in two-part harmony. The men join in full four-part harmony for the third verse. In the final verse the sopranos begin with an ostinato pattern, singing the words “We Sing” in English, Swahili, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew and Mandarin, while the men sing the melody and the altos sing the melody at a much slower tempo.

1 "How Can I Keep From Singing?" 2 Dunaway, David K. How Can I Keep From Singing: Pete Seeger. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981.

Analysis: This was originally a strophic hymn. In this arrangement, each strophe has been treated differently. Key: G Major SECTION MEASURE EVENT AND SCORING Verse 1 1-17 Sopranos and Altos in unison Verse 2 17-32 Sopranos and Altos in two part harmony – sopranos

sing melody Verse 3 32-49 4 part SATB harmony, with a little divisi. Sopranos

have melody transitional material

49-51 4 part SATB harmony

Verse 4 52-69 men sing melody; altos sing “How Can I Keep From Singing” melody as cantus firmus (1 measure per syllable); Sopranos sing ostinato on the words “We Sing” in a variety of languages

Coda 69-end Repeat harmonic structure found in second half of verse 3 using text of second half of verse 4; final repeat of text “how can I keep from singing”

IPA We Sing cantamos (Portuguese) /kan-ta-mos/ anach nu sharu (Hebrew) /a-nax nu ßar 'u/ nehnai min ghunai (Arabic) /n¨x-naI mInû x¨-naI/ wô-men chànggë (Mandarin) /wo-m´n tßa˜ g\/ tunaimba (Swahili) /tu-na-im/ba/