A really nice Ascension anthem

I find that Ascension is a difficult time to plan music. Very little of the standard congregational repertoire fits it well, and while there are lots of choral Psalm 47 settings, very few seem to be well-known or accessible. For exeample, RVW “O clap your hands” has 4-part male divisi. Finzi “God is gone up”, while awesome, is way beyond most parish choirs’ limited resources.

If you haven’t yet picked up this collection for your SATB church choir, you really should grab the “Sunday by Sunday II” collection from St. James Music Press. Several of the anthems in here are top-notch pieces, and you can reprint as many copies as you want for only $55.

Another such anthem is “Go Forth and Tell” by David Ogden. The theme reflects the Gospel reading (in all 3 Lectionary cycles) of going forth to baptize the world.

It teaches easily, with lots of unison and a very broad, sweeping, majestic melody.

The niggle is that there is a lot of high soprano descant in the last few pages. That could be rewritten pretty easily, though, if needs be.