Hymn Reflection - If My Heart Is Ready
Unbound composer Zack Stachowski reflects on "If My Heart Is Ready" by Adam Tice and Kate Williams.
It is an honor to have this opportunity to comment on the work of two of my hymn-writing heroes: Adam Tice and Kate Williams. Taken separately, their work has always moved me, often finding its way into my Sunday programming and personal listening. However, taken together, I feel their recent collaborations have produced inspired work that has expanded the definition of what a hymn is and can be.
While the music in this setting was composed several years after the text, I believe that “If My Heart Is Ready” is one of these collaborations.
The Text
Adam’s texts have always been a source of inspiration for me. In addition to his many texts that use creative and lyrical poetry to present profound theological ideas, there is also a body of his work that represents his uncanny ability to express simple ideas in beautifully simple, direct language (In the Morning, In the Evening, I Am Not Alone, Take My Hands, No Peace is Waged in War). Eschewing the protections of flowery poetry and complexity, Adam is often willing to enter the vulnerability of sharing what I might imagine are the words of his own prayers.
If My Heart is Ready is a great example of this. While it is a prayer of surrender and humility, the syntax of the stanzas create a sense of urgency and agency, as though our surrender to the will of God is not passive but active. The compounding repetition of phrases and the unconventional spatial formatting of the text combine to create the sense of motion conjured by the phrase “move me”. This is another thing I like about Adam’s text: while he does not often compose tunes, it is obvious that he is always mindful of how his words will “sing”.
The Music
As a composer, I am always intrigued and inspired most by composers who write things I would never think to. Kate Williams is one of those composers. Her work, while always singable and accessible, uses fresh, creative melodies and harmonic choices to illuminate a given text. This approach is on dazzling display with this hymn.
Before we hear a word of the text, Kate’s driving accompaniment foreshadows the movement that forms the text.
Melodic parallelisms mirror the repetition in the text with only the bass changing. This creates a wonderful sense of anticipation that leads to the climactic phrase “God, work through me to do your will”. Yet, here is the brilliance: Kate accentuates this phrase not by arriving on a stable or resolving chord, but to the highly unstable minor IV (a borrowed chord from the parallel minor key of D minor). The surprise of this chord shines a bright spotlight on these words and the concluding phrase “it is not I that move, but you.”
Uses
Both Adam’s text and Kates subsequent setting were composed for instances concerning vocation: the text was commissioned by a project exploring vocation and the music was written to commemorate the ordination of a priest. This hymn could find use when celebrating sacraments of initiation as well as any service focused on themes of vocation, discernment, discipleship, and mission.
Zack Stachowski is currently the Director of Music at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in West Bloomfield, MI. As a liturgical composer with GIA Publications, Zack released his first collection in 2017, “God Never Tires”. Also an author, Zack has published several resources with Twenty-Third Publications and Liturgy Training Publications (LTP) on the topics of prayer, youth engagement, and sacramental formation.
For Unbound work by Zack Stachowski, follow this LINK.
For a collection of work by composer Kate Williams, check out Bless What Is Breaking, her debut hymn collection.
For more by text author Adam Tice, check out the following collections:
Wow Zack this is so kind! What a lovely surprise that you have taken such a deep look at this piece—honored!