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Sounds For the Sanctuary: The Sacred Choral Music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Through a Creative Liturgical Lens

the Three Choirs Festival is a collaboration between of Morning and Evening Service. Though composed for
three prominent cathedrals in Hereford, Gloucester, worship, this work is especially viable for concert set-
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and Worcester and their church choirs. tings and can function on concert programs much like
Considering the body of Coleridge-Taylor’s sacred musical settings of its Roman Catholic Mass counter-
music output, and with Self’s comment in mind, it ap- part. Additionally, his anthems specifically showcase his
pears likely that some aspect of personal faith might awareness of liturgical and musical conventions such as
undergird Coleridge-Taylor’s sacred choral output. verse anthems, integrating chorale/hymn tunes, use of
The entire body of anthems can appropriately find its the plagal “amen” cadence, and use of doxology—an
place throughout the Christian liturgical year, especial- expression of praise in celebration and acknowledg-
ly for significant “festival” seasons such as Christmas ment of God.
and Easter and the days surrounding them. Further, The Lord Is My Strength is labeled a short anthem for
Coleridge-Taylor seems to compose in a declamatory Easter (which could be editorial), quoting two stanzas
style for chorus, leaving little room for obscured text. of Psalm 118. It is affixed with a chorale, which textu-
Yes, nineteenth-century English anthem composition- ally functions as a prayer for Eastertide—a term explic-
al style generally frontlines text intelligibility. However, itly used in the composition’s lyrics—and ends with a
Coleridge-Taylor almost provides “choral recitative” in trinitarian doxology. Because this text is a Psalm, it can
his anthems atop beautiful lyrical, linear, and lush or- and should find multiple uses during various church
gan accompaniment. In the absence of telescoped text, seasons. However, if one adheres to liturgical seasons
there could be something more to Coleridge-Taylor’s rather strictly (arguably appropriately), the closing cho-
aims in communicating the text, aside from being an rale presents a potential problem lyrically on account
inheritor of a tradition. And if true, this makes it all the of its use of the term Eastertide. (In the broadest appli-
more worthwhile to use his music in worship. cation, one could argue that present-day Christians are
With or without a faith commitment, Coleridge-Tay- always in a season of Eastertide as post-resurrection
lor’s sacred choral music contributions make stunning followers of Jesus.) To remedy this, if using this anthem
additions to weekly worship, whether in formal litur- outside of Eastertide, one might consider returning to
gical, high church or less formal, low church settings. the beginning of the anthem after the conclusion of
Owing to the fact that all churches have a liturgy—or the 6/4 section—which sets stanza seventeen of Psalm
order of worship—the creative liturgical lens through 118, singing through and ending on the downbeat of
which this author has considered these works should measure twenty to round out the performance. One
be understood as suggestions/consideration for the use might also decide to include and thereby conclude with
of this music in corporate worship more broadly, not the printed “amen” cadence.
necessarily limited to only strict, formally liturgical, Published simultaneously with three others, Lift Up
settings, though the music naturally lends itself to said Your Heads sets stanzas seven and eight of Psalm 24 in
conditions. This view also does not exclude or intend a lively manner, as indicated by the tempo designation.
to suggest that these choral works should be excluded As a festival anthem, this setting fits appropriately in
from concert performances. In the cases of some works, the weeks following Easter Sunday, though it could
a concert setting or presentational offering might work also find a home during Palm Sunday services. Addi-
best. tional uses throughout the year could include prelude
or introit as a means of calling the congregation to
worship in song; some congregations even use the la-
Selection of Choral Anthems bel musical call to worship. Given this anthem’s short,
As previously stated, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is an sectional construction—and its swift tempo marking—
inheritor of and contributor to the English choral tra- it could be deployed in conjunction with a reading of
dition of the Church of England. This is evidenced by Psalm 24. Stanza 7, which corresponds with the first
several features, not least of which include his setting thirty-five measures of the anthem, including the brief

CHORAL JOURNAL June/July 2025 Volume 65 Number 9 9