Higher Ground

Grade Level 1

Year: 1996

Type: Festival Prelude

Composer: James Curnow

Program Notes:

Opening with a majestic musical motif that gives emphasis to the words, “Lord, lift me up,” this declamatory fanfare prelude is based on the tune “Higher Ground”, penned by Charles H. Gabriel in 1898.  The words were written in the same year by Johnson Oatman, Jr., and speak of the mountain-top experience that is available on earth through Jesus Christ, and the joy that fills the heart in anticipation of the day when we will, “catch a gleam of glory bright.”

I’m pressing on the upward way

New heights I’m gaining every day

Still praying as I’m onward bound,

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)