Almost every Sunday morning I'm to be found in the choir at Cincinnati's Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church. That's me in the tenor section, the bespectacled guy with a white beard and a long mustache.

Singing in that choir, under the direction of Chris Miller, a good friend and an ardent champion of my music, is among the best of the many blessings that flow through my life these days. Mt. Auburn is a welcoming church; we bring the gifts we have to share. I'm a composer; that's my authentic self. I've written fifteen hymns, about two dozen anthems and several solos and duos for use in our services. I've invited musician friends to play my instrumental music there as well.

After a service in which a new anthem of mine had been sung, I was standing by the table on which the coffee hour goodies were spread and a woman asked me, "Was that your piece?"

I smiled and said yes it was and that I had written it specially for the choir. Her face went blank so I stumbled forward, saying that the piece had puzzled the choir the first time we rehearsed it, but Chris had persisted, taught it well, pulled it together and in the end we really put it across.

When I paused, she said, "No, I meant was that your piece of coffee cake? Because it's the last one and it looks awful good and if you're not going to eat it, I will!"

Ha!

Today I want you to hear our MAPC choir singing my anthem for voices and flute entitled, "Blessings Flow." Long time MAPC chorister Betty Porter is also a fine flutist and I wanted to write a piece she could perform with the choir. The title phrase comes from the Doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

The men commence the piece with a static statement, "Blessings flow," but each time the phrase is repeated it is less static; the phrase begins to flow. When the eighth-notes are flowing steadily, alto Jane Carter enters with one of my folk-like tunes. ("Folk-y but not hokey," is how Gregg Smith described my music.) Next, the flute plays the opening phrase of the famous Doxology tune, also known as Old Hundred.

More singing; the flute comes in again, this time with the second phrase of Old Hundre; more singing, then the flute plays the third phrase, then the fourth. Finally the choir takes up the Old Hundred tune as the flute plays, in counterpoint, the folk-like tune Jane sang earlier.

The famous Shaker tune, "Simple Gifts" is quoted at the very end.

This recording was made when the choir sang in a concert of my vocal music. At first, you'll hear applause (for the piece we'd just sung), then the anthem, then more applause. I mention that this recording was made in a concert because applause is not usual in worship services.

To hear "Blessings Flow," click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.

Rick Sowash
Cincinnati, OH
June 15, 2014

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶

The flow of blessings is uninterrupted.

That only seems untrue when I’m distracted.

At this precise moment, cool morning air is flowing through the open window. A mourning dove is calling, a sound that always takes me back to my boyhood, when I did overnight stays at Grandma Sowash’s house and woke to that sound and knew that I was loved.

My tummy is happy with the breakfast I just made of toasted Shaker dill bread and Avril’s ’tiny link’ sausage, and extraordinarily delicious coffee made from the beans our daughter brought back for us from her trip to Costa Rica, made just before the virus hit.

Like almost everyone, I’m staying home. But I dearly love my home and I am here with someone I dearly love. Yesterday, I hit the bike trail, a thing I love to do. Jo was making the dill bread, so I went alone. Five miles to Terrace Park, a spin around the village and then five miles back. It was ’spitting rain,’ as we say in Ohio, so I took off my glasses. I can see without my glasses; I’m just not sure exactly who are what I am looking at. Even so, I spotted something in the distance, coming toward me on the trail from the opposite direction, something familiar and attractive — not something! someone! — riding a bicycle toward me. Could it be? Was it her? No. She was baking dill bread. But wait! It WAS her! My lady!

She’d gotten the bread into the oven and set out on the trail, figuring she would encounter me heading back from Terrace Park. I was so happy to see her! It’s moments like that when you realize how much you really do love someone.

Blessings flow.

Today I want you to hear our Mt. Auburn Presbyterian Church choir singing my anthem for voices and flute titled, "Blessings Flow." Long time chorister Betty Porter is also a fine flutist and I wanted to write a piece she could perform with our choir. The title phrase comes from the Doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow."

The men commence the piece with a static, frozen statement, "Blessings flow," but each time the phrase is repeated it is less static. The phrase thaws, the phrase begins to flow.

When the eighth-notes are flowing steadily, alto Jane Carter enters with one of my folk-like tunes. ("Folk-y but not hokey," is how one critic described my music.) Then the flute plays the opening phrase of the famous Doxology tune, known as 'Old Hundred.'

More singing; the flute comes in again, this time with the second phrase of Old Hundred; more singing, the flute plays the third phrase, then the fourth. Finally the choir takes up 'Old Hundred' as the flute plays, in counterpoint, the folk-like tune the alto sang earlier.

The famous Shaker tune, "Simple Gifts" is quoted at the very end.

Though we have sung this piece several times in worship services, this recording was made when the chancel choir sang in a concert of my vocal music. That’s why, first, you'll hear applause (for the piece we'd just sung), then the anthem, then more applause. I mention this because applause is not usual in worship services. We prefer to shout “Amen!"

To hear "Blessings Flow," click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, click on the link above.