NEW HEAVEN has a folk-like charm; in some ways the first part reminds one of Appalachian tunes. It is one of the few tunes in the Psalter Hymnal that begins in minor and changes to major (another is ST. ANDREW OF CRETE, 575). Idle's text generally warrants this change. Warren wrote that "these marvelous words from Revelation 21 set metrically by Christopher Idle came to me early one Saturday in 1969 as I was just setting off with my children for their weekly swimming lesson. I wrote the tune in about ten minutes in the gallery of the Baths. The first four phrases have a mystery about them and I set the tune in D minor [actually, in the Dorian mode]. The last four lines move into a great sense of joy, so the tune moves to a major key and to a joyful and secure melody. The last three notes invert the opening phrase to add completeness."
The structure of NEW HEAVEN invites unison responsorial singing. A solo or small group could do the minor sections, and a larger group the major sections, with everyone singing stanza 5. Or try the following arrangement: stanza I-soloist (or small group); stanza 2a-everyone; stanza 2b-soloist (or small group); stanza 3-everyone; stanza 4a-soloist (or small group); stanza 4b-everyone; stanza 5a-soloist (or small group); stanza 5b-everyone. Complement this arrangement with the necessary changes in organ accompaniment, or in volume when using other instruments.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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