Lee Hoiby, Hymn To The New Age by Astrodreamer

Larry King, music director and organist. Trinity Church, NYC.

THROUGH THE LONG night we have come
The sun is bright, the wars are done
We will unite
We will be one
A new light has begun

Smile, heaven, on our loving land
Shine blessings on our fair kingdom
Enrich our time to come
With growing love
With joy abundant
And long, prosperous days.

God's blessings are renewed again
The face of freedom is revealed in sunlight
Now sing in praise of life
With poems praise
With voices praise
With drums, with trumpets praise

God's loving kingdom come to us
The gift of life and the gift of freedom
Now shall peace reign
Truth be revealed
And all wounds be healed

So was it ever meant to be
Resplendant hope of humankind
To follow with the dove
The way of peace
The way of love

So shall it be
So shall it be
So shall it ever be. (L. H.)

I wrote Hymn to the New Age in 1975, as the psychedelic breakthroughs of the late sixties began to be codified in a New Age philosophy of optimism, inclusiveness and exploration. William Ball, the director of the production of Richard III, for which the Hymn was written, required from me a finale of over-the-top magnificence and power, and for amateur voices, to boot. Lee Hoiby