Love on My Heart
02:58 duration|Composed in 2025|Difficulty: Intermediate|First performed: May 2025
Commissioned by Emma Wragg for The Chapel Choir of Robinson College, Cambridge, to mark her 10th anniversary singing in the choir, Love on My Heart is a serene and devotional anthem for SATB. Setting a beautiful and mystical text by Robert Bridges, the work captures the delicate, sacred imagery of love descending “soft as the dew on flowers of Spring.”
Ponniah’s characteristic harmonic warmth and lyrical phrasing reflect the spiritual intimacy of the poem. With gently unfolding lines and expressive choral textures, the piece reveals the composer’s sensitivity to both text and voices, culminating in a quiet affirmation of love’s eternal presence.
This anthem could be used throughout the year, as its text reflects on God’s enduring love. It would be especially fitting for Eastertide, Weddings, Confirmations and Christenings.
Text
Love on my heart from heaven fell,
Soft as the dew on flowers of Spring,
Sweet as the hidden drops that swell
Their honey-throated chalicing.
Now never from him do I part,
Hosanna evermore I cry:
I taste his savour in my heart,
And bid all praise him as do I.
Without him noughtsoever is,
Nor was afore, nor e’er shall be:
Nor any other joy than his
Wish I for mine to comfort me.
Love on my heart from heaven fell,
Soft as the dew on flowers of spring,
Sweet as the hidden drops that swell
Their honey-throated chalicing.
Robert Bridges (1844–1930)
