Music
Version of 1778.
- Click to hear piano reduction (Ogg format, 250K)
Musically, the work is notable for the parallel descending thirds and sixths that shift from part to part. Some renditions of this hymn (for example, the practice of Sacred Harp singer) follow a practice recommended by Billings himself and include male singers on the treble, singing an octave down, as well as female singers on the tenor part, singing an octave higher.
Read more about this topic: Africa (William Billings)
Famous quotes containing the word music:
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—Bill Cosby (b. 1937)
“Where should this music be? I’ th’ air, or th’ earth?
It sounds no more.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The great challenge which faces us is to assure that, in our society of big-ness, we do not strangle the voice of creativity, that the rules of the game do not come to overshadow its purpose, that the grand orchestration of society leaves ample room for the man who marches to the music of another drummer.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)