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Let tyrants shake their iron rod

Let tyrants shake their iron rod

Author: William Billings
Tune: CHESTER (Billings)
Published in 2 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

Let tyrants shake their iron rods,
And slavery clank her galling chains:
We see them not; we trust in God:
New England’s God forever reigns.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #4063

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Author: William Billings

William Billings (b. 1746; d. 1800) was an American choral composer, thought by some to be the father of American choral music. His father died when William was 14, and he was forced to drop all formal education and take up tanning to get by. With no formal musical training he began to compose, and his songs were well-loved and traveled quickly. However, due to unsubstantial copyright laws, Billings received hardly a penny from the publication of his music. After a period of fame and prosperity, his music was forgotten, and his last decade was one of decline. Married with six children, he died in poverty, though his music would be resurrected after his death and sung to this day. Laura de Jong Go to person page >

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Text Information

First Line: Let tyrants shake their iron rod
Author: William Billings
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain
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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #4063
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
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Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4063

The Cyber Hymnal #4063
Include 1 pre-1979 instance
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