"Steal Away" arr. Michael Tippett -- Performance by Abendchor

Abendchor is a chamber choir, directed by Tom Trenney and Therees Hibbard, part of the Abendmusik:Lincoln series, based in Lincoln, Nebraska at First Plymouth church . This concert, entitled "Songs of Hope" was performed at First Plymouth Church, UCC, Lincoln, Nebraska on March 4, 2012. Video recording by Tammy Alvis. This arrangement is taken from a larger work by British composer and pacifist Michael Tippett, "A Child for Our Time", written between the years 1938-1941. This work, in the style of an oratorio, was composed by Tippett in response to an incident used by the Nazi regime to justify a massacre of German Jews. Four well-known African-American spirituals are interspersed throughout the work. These spirituals reflect metaphorically the suffering of the Jews at the hands of the Nazis and draw parallels to the suffering and oppression of the African-American slaves while at the same time reflecting "Songs of Hope". "STEAL AWAY": Steal away to Jesus, steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here. My Lord he calls me by the thunder. The trumpet sounds within-a-my soul. I ain't got long to stay here. Green trees a-bending, poor sinner stands a-trembling. The trumpet sounds within-a-my soul, I ain't got long to stay here. Steal away to Jesus; steal away home, I ain't got long to stay here.