THE LORD IS RIS’N INDEED, HALLELUJAH!!

When Easter Sunday finally arrives and the long fast of Lent is broken, choirs need music that matches the sheer scale of the Resurrection. "The Lord Is Ris'n Indeed, Hallelujah!!" delivers exactly that. With words drawn from the poetry of Edward Young and arranged from William Billings' classic choral writing, this anthem is a dramatic, full-throated proclamation of the empty tomb. It opens with bright, overlapping shouts of "Hallelujah!" before settling into the scriptural truth that Christ has become the first fruits of them that slept.

What makes this piece so engaging to sing is how it shifts from pure celebration to a sense of awe. The choir suddenly pauses to ask, "And did He rise?" before calling out to the nations and the dead to hear the good news. The music paints the breaking of the "bars of death" with bold, triumphant chords. As the lower voices declare "Man all immortal hail," the whole choir joins together to sing of the boundless bliss won for humanity. It is a magnificent, energetic choice for Easter morning, guaranteed to lift the congregation's spirits as they celebrate the risen Christ.