This 17th century German hymn is well known in a few denominations in recent years, but may be unfamiliar to many. It combines a very singable, if rangy, melody with a lyric of personal devotion. The first stanza is done quite simply, followed by the second with a traditional-style harmonization. The third stanza is reminiscent of plainsong chant. The fourth stanza returns to traditional-style harmonization, as does the fifth. It may seem that five stanzas would either make this piece unusually long or unusually repetitive, but it successfully avoids both traps. + + + Open now thy gates of beauty, Zion, let me enter there, Where my soul in joyful duty Waits on Him who answers prayer; O how blessed is this place, Filled with solace, light, and grace. Here, O God, I come before Thee, Come Thou also down to me; Where we find Thee and adore Thee, There a heaven on earth must be; To my heart, O enter Thou, Let it be Thy temple now. Here Thy praise is gladly chanted, Here Thy seed is duly sown; Let my soul, where it is planted, Bring forth precious sheaves alone; So that all I hear may be Fruitful unto life in me. Thou my faith increase and quicken, Let me keep Thy gift divine; Howsoe'er temptations thicken, May Thy word still o'er me shine, As my guiding star through life, As my comfort in my strife. Speak, O God, and I will hear Thee, Let Thy will be done indeed; May I undisturbed draw near Thee While Thou dost Thy people feed; Here of life the fountain flows, Here is balm for all our woes. + + + OPEN NOW THY GATES OF BEAUTY by Joachim Neander, lyrics by Benjamin Schmolck translated by Catherine Winkworth, arranged by Tom Kirkland for Male Chorus TTBB, comes in a pdf file of 192K, with a nine-page score and a license page, ten pages in all. Performance time should be about 3:20. MIDI sound sample: Complete piece. TRK10166AUS$3.95 BLANKET RECORDING POLICY FOR SHEET MUSIC Many of our sheet music licenses state that the purchaser does not have the right to record the work. We have modified our policy on this, and unless the license page states that you must obtain permission from a party other than www.tributek.com to record the work, we will allow a small number (less than 50) of copies of an audio or video recording of a live performance to be made and distributed and/or posted to a free web site for viewing/listening, so long as www.tributek.com, the composer, arranger, and lyricist are credited. IN THE DOWNLOADABLES BUSINESS OVER TEN YEARS! Visit our hard goods division at A customer commented: "This was a first for me: downloading a book instead of buying it in paper form. The cost of the book in this format was less than many firms charge for shipping an item. I had not a single glitch and I would buy another book in this format with no reservations. Tributek did a good job." Another customer commented: "I would like to compliment you on the ease of purchasing music on-line. I require the music for a wedding in a couple of weeks, and didn't want to wait for music to be sent in the mail. It was great to be able to hear the music and to know the length of the PDF file and performance time." Another customer writes: "I bought some choral music off your site. It's great. I hope we can do all of it in our church. I don't know how you can sell it so cheap. It's a great service you offer." NOTE: All www.tributek.com customers are given the opportunity to rate our service, value, and quality, and 98% of www.tributek.com customers who have ever returned satisfaction surveys rate their overall experience doing business with us as "excellent" (71%) or "good" (27%). You can't please all of the people all of the time, but we do try very hard. www.tributek.com - PO Box 8025 - Elburn IL 60119 USA Visit our hard goods division at www.tributek.biz Copyright (c)1999-2012 www.tributek.com All rights to all text, sounds, and graphics are reserved. Last update: 11 February 2012