Opus 869

Kings Are Sleeping (2010)

for SATB Chorus Unaccompanied

Text by Richard Leach

Cambridge Consonance; Jeffrey Grossman, conductor

Duration: 1.5 min.

Dedication: for Harry Lyn Huff and Old South Church, Boston, Massachusetts

Publisher: Selah Publishing Co., Inc.

Performance materials available from the publisher.

Kings Are Sleeping (2010) is dedicated to Harry Lyn Huff and the choir of Old South Church, Boston.

Kings are sleeping, let them sleep
Shepherds watch beside the sheep.
Far from royal pomp and might,
shepherds see the heav’nly light.
Kings are sleeping, let them sleep.

Kings are dreaming, let them dream:
royal fear and royal scheme.
In the field that light has blurred
shepherds hear the angel’s word.
Kings are sleeping, let them sleep.

Kings are sleeping, let them sleep.
Shepherds rise, and leave the sheep—
kneel beside a manger bed,
whisper what the angel said.
Kings are sleeping, let them sleep.

Richard Leach, 1993 (© 1994 Selah Publishing Co., Inc.)