An American Hymn - setting of America the Beautiful by Cecil Effinger - The Colorado Choir

An American Hymn

setting of America the Beautiful by Cecil Effinger
words by Katharine Lee Bates
music by Samuel A. Ward

Performed live by The Colorado Choir on March 11, 2023 at our Music of America concert

Visit thecoloradochoir.org to learn more

Lyrics:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
From sea to shining sea.