THIS TUNE WAS BORN DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, APPEARING IN 1778 IN A BOOK OF TUNES AND ANTHEMS COMPOSED BY WILLIAM BILLINGS. THIS ARRANGEMENT FOR BAND WAS WRITTEN BY WILLIAM SCHUMAN IN 1957. PERFORMED BY THE 1975 WHEATON COLLEGE CONCERT BAND.
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Story behind the song
The tune on which this composition is based was born during the very time of the American Revolution, appearing in 1778 in a book of tunes and anthems composed by William Billings called The Singing Master's Assistant. This book became known as "Billings' Best" following as it did his first book called "The New England Psalm Singer," published in 1770. Chester was so popular that it was sung throughout the colonies from Vermont to South Carolina. It became the song of the American Revolution, sung around the campfires of the Continental Army and played by fifers on the march. The music and words, both composed by Billings, expressed perfectly the burning desire for freedom which sustained the colonists through the difficult years of the Revolution.
William Schuman (1910 - 1992), a native New Yorker, originally wrote Chester as the third movement of the New England Triptych. He developed and extended the orchestral version, making Chester into an overture for band. In the first section, Schuman introduces the tune first in the woodwinds and then in the brasses. In the next section, the melody is given a more contemporary setting with mid-twentieth century rhythmic and harmonic devices utilized to sustain interest. The closing section brings back the hymn-like treatment of the theme and the work is brought to a dramatic close.
Lyrics
Let tyrants shake their iron rod, And Slav'ry clank her galling chains, We fear them not, we trust in God, New England's God forever reigns.
The Foe comes on with haughty Stride; Our troops advance with martial noise, Their Vet'rans flee before our Youth, And Gen'rals yield to beardless Boys.
What grateful Off'ring shall we bring? What shall we render to the Lord? Loud Halleluiahs let us Sing, And praise his name on ev'ry Chord.