This edition was prepared by Barry Johnston — free to download, print, rehearse and perform.
Buxton
Staff Notation • Sacred
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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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Buxton by Jacob French — Lyrics
Hark! from the tombs a doleful sound;
My ears, attend the cry;
"Ye living men, come view the ground
Where you must shortly lie.
"Princes, this clay must be your bed,
In spite of all your towers;
The tall, the wise, the reverend head
Must lie as low as ours!"
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About Buxton
Jacob French, a composer of early American sacred music, wrote this SATB setting in English. The text reflects on the inevitability of death and the need for spiritual preparation. Its stark imagery of the tomb and the leveling power of mortality serves as a powerful memento mori. The lyrics call for divine grace to ensure a heavenly afterlife, urging listeners to consider their spiritual readiness in the face of certain doom. This piece offers a profound meditation on life, death, and salvation, characteristic of the deeply religious sentiments prevalent in the colonial era.
