A Lost Chord

Our second piece for our Fall 2026 Concert is The Lost Chord. This piece is part of a set of songs commissioned by Choral Spectrum and the Oberlin Choristers, Oberlin, Ohio for their anniversary seasons: Choral Spectrum (50th anniversary), Choristers (25th anniversary) that premiered May 1, 2016. Gwyneth Walker chose poems that span many centuries about the joy of music and singing for her collection Sing Evermore! Songs in Celebration of Singing. “From early to recent, the poems have the common thread of praising music for its power, its magic, its solace and its liberation. And it is this universal message which has inspired Sing Evermore!” Gwyneth, a composer since age 2, has a catalog of over 400 compositions in a broad variety of genres and her work is widely performed throughout the country.

““The Lost Chord” gives occasion to explore complex harmonies as an expression of the mystery of chords. These are added-tone sonorities - clusters. The author searches for that perfect peace, the one lost chord divine, which, perhaps may only be heard in Heaven. It is a grand Amen.”

But who is the author? Adelaide Anne Procter (October 30, 1825 - February 2, 1864) was an English poet and philanthropist. Her father was also a poet who was friends with many other writers including Charles Dickens. Dickens praised Adelaide’s intelligence and ability to learn and master any subject for which she showed interest. Many of her works were published in Dickens’ periodicals. Her poetry became immensely popular during her lifetime and she even became the favorite poet of Queen Victoria. Much of her poetry was influenced by her religious beliefs and charity work, particularly many feminist causes. Adelaide’s poetry continued in popularity well after her death and many were set to music or hymns. Her poem, “A Lost Chord”, was first set to music by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) in 1877 under the title “The Lost Chord” and became the biggest commercial success in the 1870s & 1880s.

The poem effortlessly portrays the way that music can take hold of you and move your spirit like nothing else:

SEATED one day at the Organ,
    I was weary and ill at ease,
  And my fingers wandered idly
    Over the noisy keys.

  I do not know what I was playing,
    Or what I was dreaming then;
  But I struck one chord of music,
    Like the sound of a great Amen.

  It flooded the crimson twilight,
  Like the close of an Angel's Psalm,
And it lay on my fevered spirit
  With a touch of infinite calm.

It quieted pain and sorrow,
  Like love overcoming strife;
It seemed the harmonious echo
  From our discordant life.

It linked all perplexed meanings
  Into one perfect peace,
And trembled away into silence
  As if it were loathe to cease.

I have sought, but I seek it vainly,
  That one lost chord divine,
Which came from the soul of the Organ,
  And entered into mine.

It may be that Death's bright angel
  Will speak in that chord again,
It may be that only in Heaven
  I shall hear that grand Amen.

JL