Freda Swain: Rejoice in the Lord: for SATB choir and organ

This edition of 'Rejoice in the Lord' by Freda Swain (1902-1985) is based on a manuscript score in the collection of Swain manuscripts in the possession of the Swiss pianist Timon Altwegg. At the end of her manuscript, Swain indicates 1961 as the year of composition. The manuscript is a fair copy of the score in Swain’s hand, and it is very clearly notated. Swain had obviously prepared the work for self-publication because there are transparencies for printing and copies in the collection alongside the manuscript itself.

Swain groups the voice parts in pairs on two staffs in her score. For greater clarity and ease of reading, this edition gives each voice part its own staff. The editing otherwise involved ensuring greater consistency through the adjustment of minor of details, notably in the punctuation of the text, which is taken from the King James Bible version of the psalm text. ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ is a setting of selected lines from Psalm 33. It is the most straightforward and homophonic of Swain’s psalm settings, and it is uncharacteristic of Swain’s choral writing for not dividing any of the vocal parts. It is unclear for whom the piece was intended, but it was most likely written for a parish church choir to sing on some special occasion, as it is ideally suited for that setting. The joyous quality of the music means that a suitably brisk tempo (perhaps 100 bpm) needs to be set at the opening of the piece and, in general, it needs to swing along rather than plod, despite the predominance of homophonic writing for the choir. Swain varies the meter of the music to follow the flow of the psalm text, and to capture that quality the crotchet pulse should remain the same, no matter the time signature but it might be helpful for performers to feel the over-riding minim pulse. If an upbeat enough tempo is set at the beginning, it should make for an excellent contrast with the contrasting meno mosso section in the centre of the work, with its more searching exploration of keys.

Given the simplicity of the choral writing, it is important to make the most of the harmonic twists and turns in Swain’s setting and ensure the music dramatizes the text. This will lift the piece from what could be rather diatonic and dull into a work that is an effective and interesting psalm setting as much as practical one.