This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Adams
Staff Notation • Sacred, Hymns
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2 editions of this piece
Different typesettings and voicings of the same work. This page shows the main edition; the others are below.
SATB · Barry Johnston
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Adams by William Billings — Lyrics
In finem, pro torcularibus filiis Core. Psalmus.
Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum!
Concupiscit, et deficit anima mea in atria Domini; cor meum et caro
mea exsultaverunt in Deum vivum.
Etenim passer invenit sibi domum, et turtur nidum sibi,
ubi ponat pullos suos: altaria tua, Domine virtutum, rex meus, et Deus meus.
Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine; in saecula saeculorum laudabunt te.
Beatus vir cujus est auxilium abs te: ascensiones in corde suo disposuit,
in valle lacrimarum, in loco quem posuit.
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About Adams
William Billings, a leading figure of American colonial music, offers a powerful setting of Psalm 84. The text, sung here in its original Latin and an English translation, expresses profound longing for the sanctuary of God's house, comparing the soul's desire for divine presence to a bird seeking its nest. Billings's SATB arrangement captures the text's devotional intensity, highlighting the joy of dwelling in God's courts and the ultimate reward of seeing the divine. This hymn-like sacred work calls to mind the spiritual fervor of early American psalmody, providing a moving musical experience for choirs.
