Musical Analysis #1

Is He Worthy? 

Andrew Peterson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIahc83Kvp4


Over one year ago, my family went to a Christian conference at Cannon Beach in Oregon. During the Family Talent Show, a father and his three teenage daughters presented the song “Is He Worthy?”, which touched my heart so deeply and the tune stayed and echoed on my mind. This song was originally composed and performed by artist Andrew Peterson in his album Resurrection Letters, Volume 1 in 2018. Its genre is contemporary Christian music, and it was nominated by GMA Dove Award for inspirational recorded song of the year. I would like to explore and discuss its lyrics, forms, melody, and dynamics in this post.


Image source  https://wallpapersafari.com/w/FQrmiy




Lyrics

Andrew Peterson is a Christian musician and author. He is knowledgeable in Bible and its core message: Jesus, the Lion of Judah, is the Messiah. He used the scenario in Revelation, the last book of the Bible to portray the scene and name the song, pointing to the future and eternal hope of Christians. The lyrics focuses on the returning of Christ as the reigning King, who is worthy. To believers, it could be a message eliciting emotions of power and hope; To those who are unfamiliar with Bible and the essence of salvation, it might not even make sense. The author stretches out his lyric through rhetorical questions by the soloist and answers by the congregation. It is an interactive worship song.

 

Form

Regarding its form, i.e., the overarching organization, Is He Worthy adopts the technique of repetition and contrast without much repeating. The song has total 8 sections, including 3 verses, 2 refrains, 2 chorus, and 1 bridge. It goes in the following order: Verse 1, Verse 2, Chorus, Refrain 1, Verse 3, Chorus, Bridge, and Refrain 2. It seems like AB Form with a C section of Bridge. It has two contrasting sections: verses and chorus. Parts of its melodies (the 3 verses) remain the same with different lyrics, and part of it has repeated melody and lyrics (the refrain). The intro is a short instrumental solo of piano, and its outro is Refrain 2 with background chorus.

 

Melody & Dynamics

The melody of this song is dominated by the vocalists and accompanied with instrumental music and background chorus. It uses meter 4/4. Its phrases follow similar patterns. Accompanying instruments used in this song include piano, keyboard, guitars, drums, trumpet, trombone, Tuba, French Horn, Violin, Viola, Cello, Keyboard Synth, flute/Obo, clarinet, Alto Sax, and Tenor Sax. Among them, piano is the leading instrument to accompany the melody. The beginning of the song is quiet, smooth, and slow. You can feel the stronger volume and higher pitch in the chorus and refrain. It ends with slowing down tempo like most of worship songs. Longer rhythm is used in this song to elicit stronger and deeper emotions. Short silence is also present to create stronger contrast. Unlike traditional Christian music, listeners of this song can feel its soothing and stretching sound effect as well as its amplified chorus and refrains expressing power and strength.

 

Sources:

“Andrew Peterson (Musician).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Jan. 2021. Web. 2 Feb. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Peterson_(musician)

“Andrew Peterson’s New Song for the People”. The Gospel Coalition, INC., 16 Mar. 2018. Web. 2 Feb. 2021. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/andrew-peterson-resurrection-letters/

“#923 - "Is He Worthy" by Andrew Peterson”. NewReleaseToday. NRT Media Inc., 23 Mar. 2018. Web. 2 Feb. 2021. https://www.newreleasetoday.com/article.php?article_id=2406

“Is He Worthy Orchestration (Andrew Peterson)”. PraiseCharts Publishing, Inc. Web. 2 Feb. 2021. https://www.praisecharts.com/songs/details/72937/is-he-worthy-sheet-music/orchestration

“Is He Worthy Andrew Peterson”. 2021 Genius Media Group Inc. Web. 2 Feb. 2021 https://genius.com/Andrew-peterson-is-he-worthy-lyrics

Comments

  1. KAMUCKFebruary 4, 2021 at 10:52 AM

    I enjoyed reading your blog. The singer has a great voice. I enjoyed listening to the song, it was so calming after a stressful work day. I look forward to reading more of your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Musical RobinFebruary 4, 2021 at 9:49 PM

      Thank you for your kind encouragement! I enjoy the learning in this music class:)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome and Introduction

Image
😊  Nice to Meet You!           Born and raised in North China, I am always a Chinese regardless of my US citizenship in this great country. My hometown in China is about 2 hours' drive south to Capital Beijing. My mother was a teacher, and my father worked for the government. Both of my parents joined the same choir in high school. In my early childhood memory, dad played harmonica and whistled traditional tunes while carrying me on his bike, and mom enjoyed watching and singing Beijing opera... I was bold and daring as a young kid, and I would sing and dance to entertain visitors even without being asked!           When I became an adult, my dreams were to be a pianist and a swimmer. I am still far away from both dreams decades later, but I love listening to music, especially piano. Zumba became my favorite dance and exercise after we moved to Sitka. The exciting part of my life is that  I have an Egyptian husb...
Read more

Musical Analysis #2

Image
  Musical Analysis #2 Let It Go Idina Menzel Link to Let It Go in Frozen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk In January 2014, I travelled to China to visit family with my two young daughters, one was 5, the other just turned 3. It was my first trip back to China since we moved to Alaska from North Carolina. My father passed away right before my second daughter was born, and I missed his funeral due to the upcoming delivery and long travel. That was one of my darkest times. I left China to marry my husband. The marriage interrupted my graduate study, stopped my career, and became a homemaker with two kids. Multiple cultural shocks (American and Egyptian), marital adjustment and parenting challenges, financial difficulties, and isolation from my people and culture…life was overwhelming. Growing up in a collective culture in China, I was trained to have self-discipline and self-control, and I got used to suppress my own desires to cater to others’ wishes. Finally, we...
Read more

Evolution of American Musical Movie

Image
  Evolution of American Musical Movie   Image source:   http://barkerhost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2016/11/459fPVvI4lkEV0piSfcq0irKHi8-0.jpg   Musical movies (films) were developed from theatre or stage musicals. They are characterized by singing, dancing, and dialogues. The Jazz Singer starring by Al Jolson in 1927 was recognized as the first musical movie in the US. It introduced the sound era of motion pictures with the advent of sound in the early 20 th century. Afterwards, a series of musical movies were produced on the novelty of sound. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz became a landmark for musical movie because of adoption of new technology such as color motion picture process and better sound recording. Color had not become a popular feature until late 1950’s. Musical movies got developed toward better synthesis of plot and music. This beginning period was called the first classical sound era or First Musical Era. In the 1960’s, musical films became cri...
Read more