Pilgrimage
Abridged Version
SATB Choir divisi and Organ
$2.00 per score
About the Work
Pilgrimage was commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for their National Convention in Seattle, Washington, and was premiered by the St. James Cathedral Choir in July of 2022.
Program Notes
I am deeply honored to have been commissioned by the American Guild of Organists to
compose Pilgrimage for their 2022 National Convention in Seattle, WA. While setting this text, I imagined what Sir Walter Raleigh might have thought while contemplating his own death, and
similarly, how a pilgrim might visualize the journey to heaven.
As the piece grows in intensity, the choir sings the words “then the holy paths we’ll travel” which is taken over by the organ part, building to a climax on the phrase that initially began the work. Now richer and fuller, this represents the pilgrim, who has been changed by his or her vision of the journey. To emphasize the ultimate destination of that journey, the choir sings the words “to the land of heaven,” ending the work in an atmosphere of comfort and hope.
Text
Give me my scallop shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage,
And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage.
[M]y soul, like a white palmer,
Travels to the land of heaven
And there I’ll kiss
The bowl of bliss,
And drink my eternal fill
On every milken hill.
And by the happy blissful way
More peaceful pilgrims I shall see,
And when our bottles and all we
Are fill’d with immortality,
Then the holy paths we’ll travel.
Give me my scallop shell of quiet,
My staff of faith to walk upon,
My scrip of joy, immortal diet,
My bottle of salvation,
My gown of glory, hope’s true gage,
And thus I’ll take my pilgrimage.
From A Passionate Man's Pilgrimage
Sir Walter Raleigh