My Lord, What a Mornin'

arranged by
H. T. Burleigh
SATB with Accompaniment
First Sunday of Advent
Both Marian Anderson (1897-1993) and Paul Robeson (18981976) performed this
traditional spiritual in a 1918 arrangement for solo voice and piano composed by Harry T.
Burleigh (1866-1949). Burleigh subsequently made a cappella arrangements of My Lord,
What a Mornin' for SSA and SAATTBB choruses. In preparing this adaptation for
accompanied SATB choir I have retained, with two minor changes, Burleigh's keyboard
accompaniment for his original solo-voice version.
In a footnote to his original version Burleigh writes: "In one of the earliest editions of the
Jubilee songs this word [mornin'] was mournin'." He refers here to the published repertory
of the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University, who in the 1870s first introduced the performance
of African American spirituals into concert halls.
My Lord, What a Mornin' [or Mournin'] is particularly fitting for the First Sunday of
Advent, Year B, when the Revised Common Lectionary readings reiterate apocalyptic
themes, as in Mark 13:24: "Jesus said, 'But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be
darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven....'"
In the edition of 1918 Burleigh specifies the scriptural source as Revelation 8:10a text
that is not included in the Revised Common Lectionary.
I dedicate this adaptation to Archie C. Epps III (1937-2003) who over many years sang a
thrilling rendition of My Lord, What a Mornin' accompanied by the Harvard Glee Club. He
was an award-winning alumnus of Harvard Divinity School, and from 1971 to 1999 was
Dean of Students at Harvard University. I was lucky to have numbered him among my most
admired friends.
Albert Blackwell
August 1, 2012

My Lord, What a Mornin'

In memory of Archie C. Epps III (19372003)
The third angel blew his trumpet,
and a great star fell from heaven,
blazing like a torch.... (Revelation 8:10)

4
&b 4

& b 44

V b 44

? 4
b 4

Adagio non tanto

Soprano

Alto

Tenor

Bass

&b
Acc.

F
&b

My

&b

My

Vb

My

My

Acc.

& b

F
?
b

4
4

p
4
4

!
!

Lord

what

Lord

what

Lord

what

Lord

what

..
..

.
.

My

morn - in',

morn - in',

morn - in',

morn - in',

Lord

Free Anthems for Church Choirs, 2012 by Albert Blackwell,

is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

My

My

Adagio non tanto

Lord

Lord

Traditional spiritual, arranged by

H. T. Burleigh (18661949),
adapted by Albert Blackwell

what a

what a

what a

morn - in',

what a

morn - in',

morn - in',

Lord

morn - in',

My

Oh,

my

Lord

what

Oh,

Lord

what

my

Lord

what

Oh,

my

Lord

what

Oh,

my

2
8

&b
&b

morn - in',

morn - in',

Vb

Acc.

be - gin

to

when the

stars

be - gin

to

fall,

V b .

fall.

b .

&b

12

.
.

stars

j

j

be - gin

# n
b # n n

fall.

Acc.

stars

b
b

fall.

when the

n
n

&b .

when the

&b

fall,

& b .

to

be - gin

stars

fall.

when the

12

morn - in',

morn - in',

Lord

My

to

fall,

Lord

what a

morn

My

Lord

what a

morn - in',,

stars

be - gin

to

when the

stars

be - gin

to

when the

stars

be - gin

to

morn - in',

My

to

morn

be - gin

when the

what a

what a

Lord

My

fall,

stars

My

Lord

what a

My

Lord

what a

in',

My

Lord

what a

My

Lord

what a

in',

&

&b

&b

16

morn - in',

morn

Vb
?

morn

w
& b

Acc.

&b

morn

in',

when the

Oh,

my

Lord

what a

morn

in',

when the

in',

Oh,

my

Lord

what a

morn

in',

when the

Oh,

my

Lord

what a

morn

rit.

stars

to

when the

stars

be

be - gin

to

fall,

when the

stars

be

fall,

when the

be - gin

stars

b
&

be - gin

fall,

to

when the

when the

in',

fall,

to

? b .

&b

what a

be - gin

stars

Acc.

Lord

stars

&b .

19

my

& b .

Vb

Oh,

19

in',

morn - in',

16

stars

gin

to

gin

to

be

to

be - gin

stars

rit.

gin

to

4
a tempo

&b w

&b

22

fall.

fall.

Vb w

fall.

b w

a tempo

& b

Acc.

&b

25

world

world - ly

world - ly

?b

world - ly

&b

25

Acc.

&b
Vb

ly

ways,

ways,

ways,

ways,

all

my

Done

quit

all

my

quit

all

my

heav - en - ly

band.

heav - en - ly

band.

that

heav - en - ly

band.

that

band.

my

all

Done
quit
poco piu mosso

that

joined

quit

Done

that

joined

joined

joined

Done

fall.

22

poco piu mosso

heav - en - ly

&b

28

Done

&b

quit

all

my

all

my

world

ly

Done

quit

all

my

world

ly ways,

&b
f

quit

? b

&b

&b

band.

V b #
?

band.

Acc.

ly

joined

that

heav'n

ly

My

Lord

Lord
Tempo 1

that

hean'n

Lord

j
j

#

#
joined

what

My

heav'n

Lord

that

Oh!

N
N

Tempo 1

that heav - en - ly

joined

ways,

My

My

ways,

Oh!
|

& b
#

Oh!
|

band.

31

..
..

Oh!

rit. molto

joined

world - ly

band.

my

cresc. e rit.

31

all

j
#

ly ways,

quit

28

Done

Done

Acc.

world

Vb
?

cresc. e rit.

what

what

n
n

morn - in',

what

morn - in',

b
b

morn - in',

morn - in',

ly

rit. molto

b b
b b
b

&b

&b

34

My

My

Vb
?

My

My

& b

34

Acc.

? b

Lord

what a

Lord

b n

morn - in',

b n

morn - in',

to

gin

to

stars

be

gin

to

fall.

& b

be

#
#

gin

to

Oh,

my

when the

morn - in',

what a

morn - in',

what a

#
# n
f

morn - in',

what a

Lord

b
b b

b b

when the

n b

morn - in',

when the

when the

#
#
U

n b
n b
!

n
A

rit. e dim.

fall.

Lord

what a

rit. e dim.

fall.

Lord

fall.

my

Lord

Oh,

my

my

Oh,

Oh,

morn - in',

be - gin

morn - in'.

be

38

what a

stars

stars

Acc.

Vb
?

what a

Lord

& b .
&b

stars

what a

Lord

38

!
!

ggg ww
gg w
ggg w
"

w
w