This edition was prepared by James Gibb — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Blest pair of sirens
Staff Notation • Secular, Glees
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Blest pair of sirens by John Stafford Smith — Lyrics
Blest pair of Sirens, pledges of Heaven's joy,
Sphereborn harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse,
Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ,
Dead things with inbreathed sense able to pierce;
And to our highraised phantasy present
That undisturbed song of pure consent,
Aye sung before the sapphirecoloured throne
To him that sits thereon,
With saintly shout and solemn jubilee;
Where the bright Seraphim, in burning row,
Their loud, uplifted angeltrumpets blow,
And the Cherubic host in thousand quires
Touch their immortal harps of golden wires,
With those just spirits, that wear victorious palms,
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About Blest pair of sirens
John Stafford Smith sets Milton’s ode Blest pair of Sirens for SSATB voices in this glees setting. The music opens with a clear depiction of the text’s celestial imagery, depicting the harmonious union of Voice and Verse. The composer conjures the grand, overwhelming sound of Heaven, with the SSATB choir portraying the angelic hosts and spirits singing ceaselessly before God’s throne. The textures move from homophonic grandeur to passages of more intricate polyphony, reflecting the multitudinous sounds of the heavenly host. It is a powerful evocation of eternal song, a vision of perfect harmony and divine praise.
