I'm Alive!

You may be a mad scientist, you may be a monster or you may be just "normal" but you are alive!

The greatest "belter" of all!

What is the greatest hymn a congregation can belt out? Well there are quite a few "belters" but the greatest is undoubtedly "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". If you sing at a concert of carols you will enjoy many great tunes and arrangements, some loud, some soft, but they all build up to king of all hymns: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". It really hammers the point home: Your highest notes at maximum volume. No confusion. Go as hard as you possibly can!

Ok, so it's a Christmas Carol crapping on about the glory of the almighty, so Charles Wesley's words can immediately be dispensed with but what should they be replaced with? This is the strongest hymn of all and it isn't a discussion. It's belting out a simple message as hard as it can. So what is the simple message that is the strongest for all of us? Well it's that "I'm alive!" Every breath that you take you are affirming that you are alive. Everything you do is secondary to the preservation of your life. When it is done you will not be saying or doing anything ever again. You were incredibly lucky to be here and you should celebrate that fact and revel in the freedom you have to live as you wish. You might make your life a heaven or a hell but it is yours to do with as you please.

"Vaterland, in deinen Gauen"

Felix Mendelssohn composed The "Festgesang" in the first half of 1840 to mark the 400th anniversary of the invention of printing with movable type by Johannes Gutenberg. The work contains 4 pieces, the 2nd of which: "Vaterland, in deinen Gauen" extols the bravery and great work done by Gutenberg "the German man". It is the music from this piece that was set to Charles Wesley's Christmas carol: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by William Cummings in 1855.

I don't know why the sources say that Cummings "adapted" Mendelssohn's music as the melody and harmonisation are identical. At best you might say that Cummings "arranged" the music... At any rate it is great music and if anyone doubts Felix Mendelssohn's claim to greatness they need look no further than this for his bona fides.

Music: Mendelssohn "Vaterland, in deinen Gauen", ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"), 1840
Words: Warren Mars, 2022

I can breathe and I can conceive,
I can hear and I can talk,
I can give and I can recieve,
I can laugh and I can walk.
Let the cards fall as they may do,
Whate'er fate may yet contrive,
I'm the captain of my soul;
I will plot the course I drive.
None can take what's in my heart,
I am real and I'm alive.

I can write and I can dictate,
I can see and I can read,
I can love and I can debate,
I can sing and I can plead.
It's my life to use or misuse,
Take it slow or strain and strive.
Slave to build a fancy home, or
Bludge and party in a dive.
Life is what I choose to make it,
Right or wrong but I'm alive!

I can help and I can obstruct,
I can eat and I can sleep.
I can learn and I can instruct,
I can fight and I can weep.
It's amazing that I got here!
Mark the day I did arrive.
Watch and see what I create,
Every day that I survive.
The hell with those who cause me grief,
I am here and I'm alive!

The vocal score with chords is provided here.
I have also provided an SATB arrangement for choirs here.

Finally, I have provided a recording of my computer synthesizer playing the SATB arrangement. There is no singing and the synthesizer is very ordinary. Nevertheless the parts are all there and one can sing along with it or use it get an idea of how it should sound with your choir.