Where Is Thy Victory?

Where Is Thy Victory?

This is a short little choral work that I wrote for my grandmother. Over the summer, as many of you don't know, my grandmother got suddenly very sick. She was diagnosed with lung cancer. She had problems with her lungs for over 10 years, but it was never clear what it was; she's 75 years old. It got very acute this last summer, so much so that the majority of us thought she was going to pass away. She was moved to the hospice for the dying and was on morphine and other drugs for pain. We were all terrified that she would die. I was told she had only a few days to live, and I wrote this piece to her then in one night. On looking for a text, I found one of the most profound verses that Paul wrote in First Corinthians describing how Jesus died for our sins to take away death. He conquered death for us, and I knew that my grandmother, a lifelong Jesus-follower, would not fall into death but be resurrected to heaven to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That sentiment is what is embodied in this piece.

Upon mountains of prayer from myself and others, some who didn't even know my grandmother, she was healed! She was literally healed from her cancer instantly. She was taking no medication and there was no pain! It was truly the remarkable healing power of God and the power of prayer. Only my God's grace did she live. The doctors were baffled at what happened saying they had no idea what had happened, i.e., there was absolutely no medial reason why the cancer just disappeared. But I know that God heard my prayer and answered with a resounding "yes." It solidified my faith more than any other event in my life. I knew, at that moment, that God was real and listening. And thanks be to God that He does give us the victory through His amazing love and grace for us!

Comments welcome as always. Also, if you know any choirs that would be interested in performing this, do speak up and send me their contact info.

God Bless!

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (KJV):

O death, Where is thy sting?

O grave, Where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin;

And the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God!

Which giveth us the victory

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

PDF

mp3

A YouTube rendition is also here on my channel:

Where Is Thy Victory?

Hey.

A bit too conventional for me, i'd like the harmonies to sting a bit more;)

Over all its ok, i think

What a fantastic story and inspiration! It's truly amazing what God can do for us when we simply kneel down and pray.

I like the simplicity and traditional nature of this piece. It's very beautifully and traditionally written and would sound great with an experienced church choir.

I would like to here the 'fast' section sung a little more slowly and with a little more reverence, but that's probably just personal taste.

Great writing!

Hey.

A bit too conventional for me, i'd like the harmonies to sting a bit more;)

Over all its ok, i think

Gotta agree with this. I mean, it sounds like a regular ol' church hymn, which I suppose fits, but it doesn't hold my interest.

I guess for me, the purpose of a piece like this is to inspire contemplation. Traditionally, sacred music was designed to direct attention away from itself toward "higher" thoughts and ideals. Structurally and harmonically, I think your hymn is in this vein, and comes close to achieving that, but some of your subito changes are a bit jarring and direct attention to the piece itself rather than encouraging reflection. You might consider smoothing them out a little and letting the listening remain is his or her own thoughts.

I thought that this was well crafted and contained just the right blend of harmony and contrapuntalism. I liked the suspensions on the cadences too.

Nobody can doubt the sincerity of the inspiration either. However I have always thought that there is an in-built theological flaw in the argument that prayers are listened to and the sick may be healed:

Does that mean that a poor lonely person who has led a good life, but in their final days has nobody to pray for them will be more likely to die than somebody more popular who is offered more prayers by friends ?

Would God really work in such a way ?

Nobody can doubt the sincerity of the inspiration either. However I have always thought that there is an in-built theological flaw in the argument that prayers are listened to and the sick may be healed:

Does that mean that a poor lonely person who has led a good life, but in their final days has nobody to pray for them will be more likely to die than somebody more popular who is offered more prayers by friends ?

Would God really work in such a way ?

No. One person can pray for themselves and another person and they can be healed just as readily. What matters is that prayer's sincerity and if that person's heart is in the right place. Personally, I doubt she would have been healed if it was just me praying because I'm not as Godly or devout as some of the other people that were praying for her. (I'm thinking of one pastor in particular who clearly has been filled with the Holy Spirit further than any of the rest of us.) Even when we don't know what to pray, the Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf and God will know what we need as long as we keep him in our heart and love him with just a fraction of His love for us.

sound without ordering but having some musical meanning

I liked the piece. I can see where it would work well. With a real choir, it would have more of a contemporary feel and emotion.

It doesn't matter how "rich" or "poor" you are, but how many people you helped or touch in life. An older gentleman I knew past away last week.

"A good person will not lead a lonely life.". Why would they?

That quote is mine. If you want to get more into the discussion, PM me or put it in the off-topic area.

to stay off topic for a little while: I think a lot the psalms are about good people living in misery and bad people without any problem...

to stay off topic for a little while: I think a lot the psalms are about good people living in misery and bad people without any problem...

That's not to far from the truth.

Not bad, Justin. Very uncreative contrapuntally, especially when you have the parts entering separately. But a solid choral work, I think. Better than a lot of crap I've sung over the years. Nice job.

Why thank you! This one was also written in one night.

You DO know it's nothing special to write something in one night... I have written things in one night and by two weeks later I have completely changed it.

It's not an excuse (for creativity or talent... which you have both) to do it in one night, either. I can understand drafting in one night, I do that ALLLLL the time. But, as it was discussed later, a piece is crafted with Care and Devotion to the music. You should give it a couple of days, then revisit the works. Look at them and see where you could make it better. Like everyone has said, there is MUCH MORE room for: Originality, Cleverness, etc.

Now, you may rebuttal with: But, I was not looking to be different or to set the music any other way... well, the problem is when the audience can expect what you are going to do, especially a non-musically educated one, then there arises a sense of boredom. And, I am sure you don't wanna have a bored audience. I have talked about this before. Music is saying what the words cannot. And, I didn't see much "text" setting... which is FINE. I mean, "it was the practice for hundreds of years." - Christopher Dunn Rankin. I think though, in this modern day, setting MORE to the text itself is more important than the notes you put on the page...

But, that's just my opinion and something to think about!

FOR THE PIECE ITSELF! It was conventional, something I would listen to in church with happy ears. But, I think that's where it belongs. And, for that purpose, you have done a wonderful job. The church-going audience will thank you. :)

Hmm, this is kinda tough to judge. It's a nice idea, but you seem to loose your attention. It's like you sit there and then a minute later, "Oh, this is still on?"

I hope you can write stuff more like "Our Way", I found that a much better piece than this :)