Be Gone Unbelief

Written by John Newton in 1803

Be gone, unbelief;
my Savior is near,
and for my relief
will surely appear;
by prayer let me wrestle,
and he will perform;
with Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,
since he is my guide,
'tis mine to obey,
'tis his to provide;
though cisterns be broken
and creatures all fail,
the word he has spoken
shall surely prevail.

His love in time past
forbids me to think
he'll leave me at last
in trouble to sink;
while each Ebenezer
I have in review
confirms his good pleasure
to help me quite through.

Why should I complain
of want or distress,
temptation or pain?
He told me no less;
the heirs of salvation,
I know from his word,
through much tribulation
must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup,
no heart can conceive,
which he drank right up
that sinners might live;
his way was much rougher
and darker than mine;
did Jesus thus suffer,
and shall I repine?

Since all that I meet
shall work for my good,
the bitter is sweet,
the medicine, food;
though painful at present,
'twill cease before long;
and then, O how pleasant
the conqueror's song!


.

I could not find this poem set to any tune in any hymnal on-line nor in my home.  So, I did the next best thing.  I set it to music myself.  (Note: I have since found that Indelible Grace has a version.)

New version: 6pm, 23-Mar-2020

Infinite Mercy

Infinite Mercy from God above;
Unbounded favor poured out in Love.
God now incarnate with us to dwell:
Heavenly blessing—Immanuel!

    Sing out His Greatness: God become man!
    Tell of His Mercies: Salvation's Plan!
    Jesus was born to rescue the lost.
    Christmas but points the way to the Cross.

Born as a baby, yet born to die,
Jesus came down from Heaven on high.
The Cross before Him, vict'ry to win;
He rose triumphant o'er death and sin!

    Refrain
   
Wrapped in soft swaddling pointing the way
To when this Savior in the Grave lay.
Death cannot hold Him, this King of Life;
Jesus was born to conquer all strife!

    Refrain

He desired one thing: to do God's will.
He gave His body, yet He lives still.
Now is ascended, the Great I Am,
Jesus our Savior, God's spotless Lamb.

    Refrain

- D. Benning

He Giveth More Grace

...for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Phil. 4:11 - 13

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:5

The key to our being able to do all things is to be remaining and abiding in Christ.  Our strength will fail.  His strength is infinite!

He giveth more grace
When the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength
When the labours increase.
To added affliction
He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

Chorus
His love has no limit,
His grace has no measure,
His pow'r has no boundary
Known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus,
He giveth, and giveth,
And giveth again!

When we have exhausted
Our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed
Ere' the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our
Hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

Chorus

In Hope Believe

By faith the saints of old beheld You; through sorrow and joy You gently led.
By faith they reckoned You as faithful, and they held to ev’ry Word You said.
O, let us then with eyes that see far, with them look to that promise free.

     Chorus
      “Against all hope, in hope believe”—You spoke and so it then shall be.
      “In hope believe” and thus receive this life with You eternally!

2.
O Lord, my Rock, my God and Savior, my Joy, my life, my all and crown,
around me are the noise and clamors of the world that seeks to pull me down.
My eyes here long to see Your favor, and in this world a glimpse I see.

     Chorus

3.
Your eyes are on Your people always, on those who will obey and fear You,
on those whose hope is in salvation and Your great unfailing Love so true.
You will deliver them from judgment and bring their blinded eyes to see.

     Chorus

4.
O Lord, we wait in hope for Your help; You are our Rock, our Shield and fortress.
In You our hearts rejoice with singing even though by trial we are oppressed.
Say to our souls “I’m your salvation; My face in heaven you shall see.”

     Chorus

 D. Benning  © 2006

This has been set to music, the tune Myfanwy, which was composed by Dr. Joseph Perry (1843 - 1901)

• See the score here
• Direct link to the mp3

My Heart Is Not Proud

My heart, O Lord, is not proud,
I lift not up my eyes;
and things too great and lofty
I will not seek as prize.
     But I have still and quieted my soul
     like a weaned child within its mother's arms.
     I place my hope in You,
     Both now and evermore.

In grace You bid me look up;
my eyes look up to You;
As slaves look their Master,
I hope in all that's true.
     For I have still and quieted my soul
     like a weaned child within its mother's arms.
     I place my hope in You,
     Both now and evermore.

Our eyes look to the Lord God,
let mercy flow from heav'n.
We wait in humble posture
for grace that's freely giv'n.
     For we have still and quieted our souls
     like a weaned child within its mother's arms.
     We place our hope in You,
     Both now and evermore.

~D. Benning, 2011

As set to music....

______________________________________________________________

"It has always been my aim, and it is my prayer, to have no plan as regards myself; well assured as I am that the place where the Saviour sees meet to place me must ever be the best place for me."
—Robert Murray M'Cheyne, 1813-1843.

______________________________________________________________

From Spurgeon's, Treasury of David, Psalm 131:2—

[David says that he is] as a child that is weaned of afflictions mother. He had become as subdued and content as a child whose weaning is fully accomplished. The Easterners put off the time of weaning far later than we do, and we may conclude that the process grows none the easier by being postponed. At last there must be an end to the suckling period, and then a battle begins: the child is denied his comfort, and therefore frets and worries, flies into pets, or sinks into sulks. It is facing its first great sorrow and it is in sore distress. Yet time brings not only alleviations, but the ending of the conflict; the boy ere long is quite content to find his nourishment at the table with his brothers, and he feels no lingering, wish to return to those dear fountains from which he once sustained his life. He is no longer angry with his mother, but buries his head in that very bosom after which he pined so grievously: he is weaned on his mother rather than from her.

"My soul doth like a weanling rest,
I cease to weep;
So mother's lap, though dried her breast,
Can lull to sleep."

To the weaned child his mother is his comfort though she has denied him comfort. It is a blessed mark of growth out of spiritual infancy when we can forego the joys which once appeared to be essential, and can find our solace in him who denies them to us: then we behave manfully, and every childish complaint is hushed. If the Lord removes our dearest delight we bow to his will without a murmuring thought; in fact, we find a delight in giving up our delight. This is no spontaneous fruit of nature, but a well tended product of divine grace: it grows out of humility and lowliness, and it is the stem upon which peace blooms as a fair flower.

Dialogues for Two Clarinets

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Dialogues for Two Clarinets


    This duet started off because someone asked me to write a duet for trumpet and clarinet. It worked well, but several people (including myself) felt that it would work even better as a clarinet duet.

Here is the link to the computer playback of the piece.  NOTE: you will have to search the list within the SoundClick link to find the individual movements since that site has changed their format.

The three movements are

• Reminiscing
• Pleasant Conversation
• Punctuated Dialogue

    In the last movement you will hear percussion sounds. These are to represent the foot-stomping or toe-tapping that the performers are to engage in whilst playing. The foot antics are written into the score and very deliberate, punctuating the dialogue.

Back to the complete list of published music.

Brass Suite with Trumpet

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Brass Suite with Trumpet

      This is an interesting ensemble.  Four tubas and a trumpet.  (Technically two tubas, two euphoniums and a trumpet.)  I wrote the first movement and was almost immediately asked to turn it into a complete suite.  I am indebted to David Carter for using his Vienna Symphonic Sound Library to make a very realistic computer playback performance of this piece.  Indeed it was he who encouraged me to write additional movements for this suite after he surveyed the initial piece.

Here are links to various ways of listening to it:
+ At SoundClick.  NOTE: you will have to look within the SoundClick link to find it at number 7 on the list.  (They changed their site so direct linking cannot be done now.)
     The whole suite

+ On YouTube: the first two movements, illustrating some of what I heard as I wrote it.
     Movement I, Fanfare
     Movement II, Reflections

Reviews:

The whole suite—

mmmm that's nice
   This 3 movement work features some beautiful lower brass chords and maintains rhythmic interest throughout.  The trumpet melodic work is so different to the way I approach melody that at first I found it hard to lock into, but as the piece developed, the logic and sense of the melodic work became apparent and actually, quite catchy. To me, the underlying feeling of serenity/tranquility is the unifying feature of the work. The review headline is actually what I said after the last notes. I note that some of the composers other works have this same underlying feeling. A work of quality.
 
~Jeffrey Thorpe

Individual movements—

Movement I, Fanfare
            The first review has been lost to time and the bit bin of the internet.

Movement II, Reflections

Beautifully done
While some may argue with the "muddy" side of such an ensemble, four tubas is the foundation of just about every brass band around and I think the chords you have presented here underneath the trumpet are well structured. 

~ David Smith

Movement III, Delight!

Aptly named 
The title of this piece is a perfect description. A delight to listen to. Short and sweet, bouncy, plus any other synonyms of delight that could be thought of to make this review more than the minimum 30 words. :-D

~ Tony Matthews

Mars—59,620 Years

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Mars—59,620 Years

Click here to find a computer playback of this piece.  NOTE: you will have to search the list within the SoundClick link to find the individual movements since that site has changed their format.

      A Wind Quintet written in 2003 for a small, informal competition.  It had its premiere in London in 2006 at a small gathering of musicians who were showcasing new works.

The theme of the competition was the fact that the planet Mars was reaching its closest approach to earth in an estimated 59,620 years.  I took that theme and wove the idea of the Roman god of war with the dry and dusty images from the planet.

59,620 Years--Mars Returns is the simple telling of the approaching of Mars, the god of war. Mars, the Planet, is dry and arid--much like many of the deserts found throughout central Asia. For that reason, I chose a wind quintet and often featured the use of the double reed instruments with a haunting melody to try to invoke the feeling of a desert or at least nomadic life.

The approach of Mars is signified by a change to a minor key and an increasing sense of urgency. The storm clouds of war gather and break over everything. But Mars is old. The youthful delights that once he took in the exploits of war now easily tire him and his passion quickly drains away. Fear and foreboding subside. Calmness returns. The idyllic joy again returns as Mars fades away into the distance.

The numbers 5, 9, 6, 2, and 0 play an important part in developing the intervals used in two sections of this piece.

Back to the complete list of published music.

Nothing but the Blood

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Nothing but the Blood

      A duet for Piano and Violin that is an arrangement of an old hymn.
Initially I started this as an exercise of "Can I write music in 5/4?"  But it quickly developed into something that transformed the old hymn and made it soar.  I am blessed to have performed this three or four times.  The recording, although not our best, is from one of those occasions

Click here to find the link to a recording of the performance.
 

Reviews

Excellent
I stumbled across this while browsing through the composer's personal page, and before I'd even begun to listen to the scorch playback, I knew that it was not going to be just another arrangement- the obvious and wonderful rhythmic style is perfect for this hymn. All too often, I find versions of this—one of my favorite hymns—done in too much of a "rock" style, but this is perfect. It sets itself apart while still not violating the spirit of the song. I would love to hear this performed, I'm sure it is even more moving in person. Excellent, excellent job.
 
~ Curtis Schweitzer


A Transformation
Despite the title, this is an instrumental piece for violin or any other suitable instrument and piano. The old-fashioned and slightly four square gospel hymn by Robert Lowry is transformed into a moving almost epic, folk-like piece. The original 4/4 time is changed into 5/4 time which helps give it a new character and any jerkiness is avoided by an effective flowing then dramatic piano accompaniment. The melody itself is beautifully varied and ornamented—soaring to a lovely climax. Anyone who needs an instrumental piece to play during moments of reflection in a service or, indeed, in a sacred concert should have a look at this.
 
~ Charles Dodds

Back to the complete list of published music.  

Longings

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Longings

      A duet for Piano and Violin in one movement.
The steady underlying quarter note rhythm of the piano throughout much of the song provides an almost hypnotic effect over which the violin raises questions and hopes. There is the initial "longing" which grows into a more petulant and vocal whine before subsiding into a deep resignation. It is the music of a man staring out a rain-spattered window, contemplating many things that had been or almost were.

Click here to listen to the computer performance.  NOTE: you will have to search the list within the SoundClick link to find the individual movements since that site has changed their format.

Reviews:  Staring at the rain from a glass window, immersed in thought

   An intriguing piece of music for piano and violin. It begins like a kind of an aria with an interesting tune and a fair bit of chromaticism which sometimes generates surprises, such as in bar 13. I would like to know what inspired this piece, because it has quite a sombre mood. This is confirmed by the title ("Longings") and indications in the score ("with much feeling", "sighing" and "resignation"). I have the theory that these longings are of a spiritual nature, rather than not.
The opening movement is hinted at in the program note as being "Slow and plodding". This is not an entirely inappropriate description. The piano accompaniment is quite uniform: one note in every beat of the 4/4 metre — very constant in rhythm, and one wonders if the music would benefit from a greater use of syncopation and suspension to make the piano part more attention-grabbing. But then, perhaps that would not be what is intended, as the music succeeds in generating a certain eerie and almost hypnotic feeling.
By bar 40 the accompaniment's basic rhythm begins to change a bit, and at 62 a contrasting section commences, immediately delivering a more threatening kind of sound, as the music gets progressively more disturbed (never loosing its basic restraint, though).
The music concludes very quietly, perhaps giving the feeling that the longings have not been entirely resolved, the ending being "resigned and sullen" as hinted in the program note? certainly no happy ending here. I liked very much the glissando at bar 123 *, which was in the right place of the music to impact emotionally. In summary, I find this piece to be quite sad and resigned, like staring at the rain from a glass window immersed in thought about old dreams, the unfulfilled promises of youth, the longing for answers about the loneliness of the human condition in this world. I felt that the piece had interesting harmonic twists but that it could benefit from more rhythmic variety and more strongly contrasting sections but I found it interesting enough to keep my attention. That's why I can say that, personally, I liked it.

~ Jordi Vives i Batlle

* Note: the glissando mentioned in the above review did not show up on this computer playback.  It would have been between the second to last note, a high G, and the last note, a G one octave lower.

Back to the complete list of published music.

Passages of Time

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Passages of Time

  A duet for Piano and Flute in four movements.
I do have a recording of this being performed by Flute and Piano, but the recording was on an old cassette tape and was of poor quality.  I'm not putting it on the web.  Period.  Instead I have three of these movements recorded as performed with Violin and Piano.  The violinist said there was no way she could work up the second movement.  Far too flute-like and demanding of all but the most advance violinist.

All four movements run almost 17 minutes, the last movement being the longest.  The second movement is the most demanding in terms of the flute part (tonguing) and the piano part (getting all the notes in with the right rhythm). NOTE: you will have to search the list within the SoundClick link to find the individual movements since that site has changed their format.

• Mvt 1, violin & piano 
• Mvt 3, violin & piano
• Mvt 4, violin & piano

Reviews:  Music of a man at peace with the world

   After hearing the first bars of this piece it became quite clear to me that the best I could do was not to try to "analyse" it, but instead to allow myself to be surrounded and transported by this beautiful music. I experienced a range of subtle, warm, delicate emotions while listening to this piece as the sinuous line melodic lines of the flute and the enchanting piano accompaniments unfolded. Perhaps the best way to describe this feeling is that I felt as if I was beginning to soar in the air, like a bird learning to fly, gliding higher and higher above the land and watching the calm sea, and the diffuse line of the horizon. Passages of Time is the music of a man at peace with what lies ahead and what has slipped into eternity behind us. It is the music of a man on a journey, who has found his sense of purpose and can bid farewell with sweet melancholy without striving desperately for the unattainable. In some way this music encapsulates our human experience and our ability to move forward and let our memories fly over the horizon without casting them away from our soul. 

~ Jordi Vives i Batlle

UPDATE:
Here are the recordings as done  by flute and piano.  This had to have been from the early 1990s or the late 1980s.  Sound quality is a bit spurious, but is sufficient to allow the listener to image how I had originally envisioned the music.

• Mvt 1, flute & piano
• Mvt 2, flute & piano
• Mvt 3, flute & piano
• Mvt 4, flute & piano

Tripping

Published by Kistner und Siegel:

* Tripping

  A Wind Quintet originally written for the 60 x 60 project and it was accepted in 2008.  Since this piece is under 60 seconds long, I cannot think of this as being a full, formal Wind Quintet, but instead a Breeze Quintet.  It is light and playful like a breath of early Summer.  Tripping is a light-hearted interplay between instruments, filled with musical humor.

Click here for link to the computer performance.  NOTE: you will have to search the list within the SoundClick link to find the individual movements since that site has changed their format.



Review

  Pleasant Whimsy

   I hear a pleasant little whimsy—interesting gestures, rhythmic interplay and tonal sound world. This composer shows some promise.  }:¬)

~David Carter

Unconventional & Engaging!

This "Breeze Quintet" is quite fitting of the title "Tripping". David has written lines which almost all descend, and by passing them from higher to lower voices gives a sense of a slow fall over the course of the piece.

The harmony is most unconventional, and a welcome change from the often bland harmonic language present in today's music, and adds to the programmatic nature of the piece, giving a sense of uncertainty to the slow descent.

A fine work, David!

~ Jonathan Loving

Back to the complete list of published music.

Dancing Night Wind

Published by Echelon Music:

 *     Dancing Night Wind
  A flute solo, but the best recording I have of it is by Charlie Brighton who heard the piece and thought he could do a grand job with it as a solo tuba piece.  I think he did an outstanding job.  (He reviewed the piece; see below.)

    Listen here.

This piece was premiered in Sacramento in 2011, by Maquette Kuper, who is the director of the Davis Youth Flute Choir.

Reviews

 A flute's magic flight

With due apologies to Herr Mozart for the headline, this is ravishing music for a solo flute. Full of dance-like figurations, subtle changes in rhythm, lyrical episodes and dream-like reveries. The technical demands are self-evident along with the challenge of combining and balancing pace and poise in such a carefully written piece. Highly satisfying. 

~ Cedric Peachey

 Brilliant

A wonderful piece, full of atmosphere, great fun to play and listen to.  I featured it in my Euphonium recital and the live recording can be heard here, played in concert C, with a few octave changes.

Best wishes,

~ Charley Brighton, BBC Winds, London

Back to the complete list of published music.

Music....

Well, this is rather interesting: I have music that is or is being published.
Seven pieces published by the German publishing company, Kistner und Siegel.
And one piece by Echelon Music.

I have been asked to provide links to sound files so that each of these could be heard in some form.  Remember, I cannot show the musical scores, but I can showcase the musical performances.  This blog entry will also allow me to collect comments and reviews that some of these pieces have received over the past decade or so.

That any of these pieces came into being is truly a gift from God.  I am the unworthy recipient of His grace and any talents that I may have.  And to think that somehow some of this music connects to other people and touches them by listening is really, really humbling!



     Inspiration
Even as I sit here
In deep wonderment I am;
It's something between awe
And ad nauseam!
     Yet not that—but puzzlement.

I am not myself,
But another, yet unknown;
It is something in my finger
That I would seek to disown.
     Yet not that—but imprisonment.

I would that I could control it
(It from my stylus pours);
It must be tamed somehow,
Lest I myself deplore.
     Yet not that—but penitent.

This scourge that from my finger flows
Is sampled here upon this page;
It comes and keeps on coming—
I would to put it in a cage!
     Yet not that—but banishment.

But I reckon that it's here stay,
So I'll let it do its thing;
I'll let it pour out on paper
All its foolish clamorings.
     Yet not that—but accomplishments!

So I'll use this Gift from God
(He by His Grace bestowed it);
I'll nurture it and cherish it
And be a real composer-poet.
     Yet not that—but His instrument!

- D. Benning
02-Dec-1982



Here is the list of published music.  Click on each to go to a separate page describing the piece, complete with reviews and links to a recording of a performance.

• Dancing Night Wind
• Tripping
• Passages of Time
• Longings
• Dialogues for 2 Clarinets 
• Brass Suite with Trumpet
• Nothing but the Blood
• Mars—59,620 Years

I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow

John Newton

by John Newton

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“ ’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

“I Asked The Lord” — by Indelible Grace

Some say "Autumn"

Glade Creek Grist Mill, Babcock State Park, WVa.

Some say "Autumn" as a special word: "Autumn!"— 
   a joyous, gaudy, rainbow-sparkled display of excessiveness; 
   a right regal regaling of sight and sound, sense and smell—
and they would be right.

For off in the forested hills and hollows, ridges and rills 
   the sharp, crisp breath of Summer’s End comes, 
    tickling, trickling, traipsing, trilling round each leaf and limb,
        sheaf and stem,
   till Autumn’s playful palette paints the earth.

But some say "Fall" as a synonym— 
    and mean that Autumn merely is a time for leaves to drop,
         to plop, to droop, to tiredly slump,
   then mass together in ignoble heaps upon the lawn—
and they would be right.

For in the sun-encrusted valleys of the Far Out West, 
   Summer’s End comes not with biting breath,
   Summer’s End comes not with wintry whispers.
Rather Summer over stays her welcome.
Leaves grow tired and yellow, dusty and brown, 
    mottled, molded, mangy skeletons
                 of Spring’s once bright display, 
   each longing to shrink, shrivel, fade and drop,
   or be driven hard upon a dry north wind.

Yet here and there, and sometimes in between,  
   a sigh of "Autumn" comes and touches tenderly a tree or two, 
   and kisses hedge or  bush,     
        leaving blush and hush and innuendo of Summer’s Grand Adieu.

Some say "Autumn" and then say "Fall"
                   as if there is no difference there at all. 
    But rosy cheeks and jewel-struck hills
                  speak loudly to correct that error.
As Summer retires, renouncing and relinquishing her reign,    
    Autumn proudly receives honor from lesser Fall.
     —And that would be right!

- D. Benning

 ___________________________________________________

 

This Poem set and performed in Aug, 2013.

Ohiopyle Park, Pennsylvania.  Photo by Michael McCumber.
http://www.michaelmccumber.com/pictures/ohiopyle-autumn20/

Prelude to Heaven

Rippling tide of light shimmering sound
   Rising, falling—run-spinningly trills:
   Graceful flow of Love and Laughter fills
The listening heart with Joy.  And all around
The running, running rhythm does surround
   The room with growing sheerness—now thrills
   The calm and quiet mind.  And then it spills
Rushing-rivuletly all over—sweep me off the ground...

And then I'm flying away to that city of Heaven,
   Rushing to earth to be pulled back to Him
      —King of all nature and heaven and earth
—Messiah incarnate by death gives us birth
   —Beautiful Savior: of Him all earth sings—
         Praise be to God for musical wings!

- D. Benning