At Water's Edge (2021)
for SATB choir | 00:04:30
by Melissa Dunphy | text by Text adapted from Psalm 137
About
Commissioned by Westminster Kantorei.
This setting of Psalm 137 serves as an expression of longing for home in a time of displacement and uncertainty.
Premiered at a Westminster Choir College rally at Rider University 02 March 2022.
Lyrics
At Water's Edge
Adapted from Psalm 137
At water's edge we sat, and we wept,
and we remembered home.
We hung up our lyres in willow trees.
The squanderers laid waste to us
and bid us, "Sing us one of your songs of home."
But how can we sing those songs in this place,
If I forget home,
let my hands wither
and forget how to play my lyre.
If I forget home,
may my tongue cleave to my mouth
and silence my song.
Image from the Library of Congress
Performances
- 18 Apr, 2026: Luminatus Vocal Ensemble at St Mary de Castro Church, Leicester, England
- 25 May, 2025: Luminatus Vocal Ensemble at St Mary & St Giles Church, Buckinghamshire, England
- 20 Apr, 2024: University of Wisconsin-Stout Chamber Choir at Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Menomonie, WI
- 2 Mar, 2022: Westminster Kantorei at Rider University, Princeton, NJ