Anna R Matthews

Hast thou not known?

for SATB choir and organ

January 2011

Hast thou not known?

Hast thou not known? is a setting of Isaiah 40:28-31 from the King James Bible (1611). It was written

in celebration of the 400th

anniversary of the Authorized Version, and was selected by James

MacMillan and Roxanna Panufnik, amongst other eminent judges, as a finalist in the King James

Bible Composition Awards 2011.

I was drawn to these verses of Isaiah because they reflect the sense of revelation which people may

have experienced on their first encounter with the King James Bible in 1611. Inspired by 20th

and

21st

century Christmas carols, here it is given a jubilant musical setting appropriate for such a grand

anniversary celebration.

The piece, in three sections, opens with a choral fanfare, calling to the listener in rising chromatic

motifs building to powerful 8-part harmonies. A calm, religioso melody follows in the upper voices,

derived from the fanfare motif. The lower voices interject marked statements, explaining God’s

powers with simple clarity. As the fate of man is revealed, chromaticism re-enters and the section

crescendos to a short organ solo. From a quiet bass pedal, hope is restored in the final section as the

choir states, in unison, the important conclusion: they shall be renewed. Excitement builds once

more as the fanfare motif returns, tossed between upper and lower voices, ‘mounting up’ and

gathering pace to a triumphant end.

Anna Matthews

Exeter, May 2011

Hast thou not known?

Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the

ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as

eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.