"A Better Resurrection" [Craig Courtney]

"A Better Resurrection" [Craig Courtney]

First line of lyrics: I have no wit, no words, no tears

Courtney, Craig; music (American)

Rossetti, Christina Georgina; text (English, 1830-1894)

2009 [publication] [copyright]

Ohio: Beckenhorst Press, Inc.

genre: sacred music|choral music|song

chorus: SATB voices with divisi

instrumentation: a cappella|piano (for rehearsal only)

initial sharps/flats: one flat

initial time signature: 4/4

origin: United States

male composer

English

Rossetti poem(s): "A Better Resurrection"

Notes about the text: In the setting, the words in line 15 of the poem "Yet rise it shall" is reordered to "Yet it shall rise", the words "till it be" at the end of line 22 are omitted, and line 23 "A royal cup for Him my King" is reduced to "for my King".

Composition history: "The poetry of Christina Rossetti has resonated with me since childhood. I value her beauty of language, mastery of metaphor and depth of emotion. It is her honesty, though, that touches me most. Rossetti's faith is not one of naive idealism. Rather, it springs from a personal struggle with her humanity, doubt and pain. | As I have lived with the words of A Better Resurrection, I have come to love their richness and color. My goal in composition was to let these words dictate my musical choices: where a phrase needed to rise or fall, where dissonance or resolution was appropriate or where simplicity should lead to complexity. There are many words that lend themselves to text painting as well: words such as alone, quicken, brief, rise and broken are just a few. | Each stanza of the poem describes aspects of nature which demosntrate death and rebirth and each stanza ends with a plea: O Jesus quicken me, O Jesus rise in me and O Jesus drink of me. It is here that Rossetti moves beyond her struggle and speaks of the relationship between the Infinite and the finite, the Creator and the created. It is through her struggle and its resolution that I find my own faith strengthened."

Tempo markings: quarter note = 54

Performance instructions: "As a prayer, very freely"

Recordings: "A Better Resurrection." Beckenhorst Press Inc., https://beckenhorstpress.com/a-better-resurrection/. Accessed 10 May 2023.

Dedication: "Written for the 2009 Spring Tour of Capital University Chapel Choir, | Dr. Lynda Hasseler, Director"

Format 1: musical score

9 pages; performance time 3 minutes and 20 seconds

Cataloguer: Melissa Poon and Emily McConkey, University of Ottawa

This score is copyright protected. A score can be consulted here: "A Better Resurrection." Beckenhorst Press Inc., https://beckenhorstpress.com/a-better-resurrection/. Accessed 10 May 2023.

Record: CRM-betterresurrection-courtney

"© Copyright 2009 by Beckenhorst Press, Inc. All rights reserved."

The Christina Rossetti in Music project website is hosted in Canada at the University of Ottawa Library, and we aim to comply with Canadian copyright laws. If you believe we have violated Canadian copyright law, please contact us at christinarossettimusic@uottawa.ca. The Christina Rossetti in Music project is strictly not for profit and intended for research and educational purposes only.