God's Gate - Simon Mold

for SATB and organ. Scores from chichestermusi...
Accessible anthems suitable for the anniversary of a church building or its rededication are actually quite thin on the ground, so when I was asked by the Friends of Kent Churches to write a piece for their 75th anniversary service in 2024 I took the opportunity to supply a new text as well (in strophic form, so it can also be sung as a hymn). The words and music for God's Gate were thus able to inform each other.
After a fanfare-like organ introduction featuring the tuba, the opening stanza is set to a confident tune, mirroring the contours of the words, that latterly rises voice by voice to illustrate the prayers of congregations past. The poem then turns to address those who embellished church buildings with their craftsmanship, and the musical texture lightens to illustrate the beauty of candlelight reflected in stained glass.
Stanza 3 recalls that such work was undertaken by "countless souls down countless years", so here I've contrasted higher and lower voices, beginning with a two-part canon. A transitional organ passage finally reintroduces the tuba before the opening music returns: an initial unison restatement, to the words "We are the fabric of the living Church", soon gives way to more florid writing that includes some imitation between the voices, and a soprano descant. The rising vocal lines heard earlier to illustrate prayer are now re-employed to suggest the actual act of building the church, concluding triumphantly with "a roof protecting all". The anthem itself ends, however, with a short reflective passage for voices alone - "to faith, God's gate" - in a sudden remote key, before resolving upon a serene E flat pedal with a final amen.
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God's Gate
Sing, sing to Heaven's builders, who of yore
Raised temples to the Architect of all,
Where humble servants met to bow the knee
And offer prayer in pew or priestly stall.
God sped the minds of those who formed a plan,
Skilled hands that carved or wove, He held unseen,
Each glint of gold, each flash of leaded glass
Bespoke the altar candles' shimmering sheen.
Unswerving, countless souls down countless years
To beautify God's house together strove,
That wandering folk might find uncommon rest
Within a space inspired by godly love.
We are the fabric of the living Church,
Its sturdy pillars bearing lofty weight,
High soaring arches, linking stone to stone,
A roof protecting all; to faith, God's gate.
Amen
Simon Mold 25-4-24
© Chichester Music Press