The Music of Elizabeth Alexander

Works about Christianity

Title

Poet/Lyricist

Voicing/Instrumentation

Level

Calm the Tempests of My Heart
A prayer for peace within one’s own heart
Poet/Lyricist: Søren Kierkegaard
  • Flexible voicing: 2-4 pt choir a cappella
  • SSA a cappella
Level: E
Chosen People
An affirmation of the blessedness of all people
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, piano
  • SATB, chamber ensemble
Level: M
Hear Us, O Never-Failing Light
An ancient Mozarabic Easter prayer extolling the bounty of divine Light
Poet/Lyricist: Mozarabic Easter Eve prayer
  • Flexible voicing: 2-4 pt choir
Level: ME
I’ll Go Alone
An affirmation of faith during difficult times
Poet/Lyricist: Evelyn K. Dudley
  • SSAA a cappella
  • SATB a cappella
  • TTBB a cappella
Level: MA
Immortal Love
An elegantly sculpted chorale about eternal and abiding love
Poet/Lyricist: John Greenleaf Whittier
  • SATB a cappella
Level: ME
In the Lonely Midnight
A Christmas carol bearing both mourning and hope, with a lyric written on the eve of World War I
Poet/Lyricist: Theodore Chickering Williams
  • SATB, piano
  • SATB, orchestra
Level: ME
Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
A beloved Polish carol with two different arrangements: “Soulful Close Harmony” and “Classical Chorale”
Poet/Lyricist: Traditional, additional lyrics by Elizabeth Alexander
  • SSA a cappella
Level: ME
Kindling: Small Reflections on a Limitless Faith
An ecstatic and introspective cantata on the things that inspire, challenge and nourish our religious lives
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, piano
  • SATB, chamber ensemble
Level: MA
Love is the Spirit of this Church
A feast of old-time gospel, with a vision for our time
Poet/Lyricist: Tony Larsen, additional lyrics by Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, piano
Level: M
Luminous Awakening
An bountiful and expansive setting of a Hildegard von Bingen prayer
Poet/Lyricist: Hildegard of Bingen
  • SATB a cappella
  • SSAA a cappella
Level: M
Only a Couple Fishes
An animated retelling of the “loaves and fishes” story, with generosity at its core
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SA, piano
Level: ME
Pure Light beyond Light
Ancient and modern invocations of the Holy filled with reverence, mystery and illumination
Poet/Lyricist: Mozarabic prayer, Hildegard von Bingen, Rob Eller-Isaacs
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
So Much Radiance
A tender parable about the wisdom and resplendence of the world’s religions
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • SATB, piano
  • SATB, chamber ensemble
Level: MA
Song of the Five Thousand
A canonic table grace with abundance, gratitude and generosity at its core
Poet/Lyricist: Elizabeth Alexander
  • Flexible choral voicing
  • Community / Congregational Song
Level: E
The Gate is Open
A winter meditation on the Star that lies beyond all fear and hopelessness
Poet/Lyricist: Sister Peronne Marie Thibert
  • SATB a cappella
Level: M
When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
A rhythmic and relevant best-seller about the true “work of Christmas”
Poet/Lyricist: Howard Thurman
  • SATB a cappella
  • SATB, flute
  • SSAA a cappella
  • TTBB a cappella
Level: M