Overview
I Will Rise is a 6.5-minute piece for choir and string orchestra. It honors the survivors of the 1999 shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.
On their website, Wedgwood Baptist describes the event as follows: “On the evening of September 15, 1999, just before 7:00 pm, a crazed gunman entered Wedgwood Baptist Church and opened fire, killing seven and wounding seven.” (https://www.wedgwoodbc.org/wedgwood-shooting.html).
Nine days later, on Friday, September 24, 1999, I awoke from a dream in which I heard a repeated simple melody, and one week after that I knew how I should dedicate the piece.
This piece is dedicated to the public domain as of April 25, 2024. There are no use restrictions, and it may be freely performed, recorded, distributed, and used as the basis for derivative works. Soli Deo gloria
Texts for I Will Rise
The texts for I Will Rise are as follows:
“In this world, you will have sorrow and pain. Yet take courage, for I have overcome this world.” — Jesus Christ, as quoted in John 16:33b (composer’s paraphrase of the Berean Standard Bible, a public domain translation at https://bereanbible.com/)
“Who are those who overcome the world? Only those who believe Jesus is the Son of God.” — The Apostle John, 1 John 5:5 (composer’s paraphrase of the Berean Standard Bible)
I will join the choir of the redeemed.
When I rise, I’ll rise to meet them in the air,
and the pain and sorrow of this world
will be lost as glory after glory is unfurled.
Hallelujah!
MP3 Sample Recordings
This is an MP3 sample recording using instrumental sounds for the vocal parts:
PDF Full Score
PDF Choral Score
MusicXML Score File
PLEASE NOTE: When you import this into any music engraving software, it will not look great, but will save you TONS of time if you want to make derivative works, change the keys, etc. Let me know if you want to share your new versions, and I can post them here for others. Contact me directly if you want the full Sibelius music file.
Download the MusicXML (.xml) score file.
Revision History
This is the first version and no revisions/updates have been posted yet.
music, compositions by Mark Feezell, piano, choir, voice, hymns and worship
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