We Fall Down

Grade Level 4

Year: 2011

Composer: Stuart Watson

Program Notes:

The contemporary worship song “We Fall Down” is brought into musical conversation with an older Salvation Army chorus, “At Thy Feet I Bow Adoring” in this arrangement. It begins with a firm statement of intent from, “At Thy Feet I Bow Adoring, “Giving up my all to follow, Just to do my Master’s will.” The arrangement continues into the main theme and a development section where both melodies are woven together.

In bringing these songs from different generations into musical conversation, each makes explicit what is implied by the other. For example, whereas “We Fall Down” brings out the holiness, mercy, and love of the One we worship, “At Thy Feet” brings out the truth that genuine worship is deeply connected with the way we live our lives. Both songs reflect on self-denial: where the older chorus uses the phrase “my all” Chris Tomlin refers to our “crowns;” an apt metaphor in an age that is obsessed with image and the accumulation of wealth and power.

While the words to “We Fall Down” are likely familiar, the text to the chorus that has been juxtaposed with it may not.

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)