Richard Smallwood and “Total Praise”: the gospel anthem written in a season of grief

It ends with one word repeated: “Amen.” Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise”, released in 1996, closes with a long, building series of amens that choirs around the world sing with full force. The song, based on Psalm 121, came from one of the hardest periods of Smallwood’s life.

Smallwood and his singers

Smallwood was born in 1948 in Atlanta and grew up in Washington, D.C. He started playing piano as a child and studied music at Howard University, where he helped form one of the first gospel groups on campus. His style blends gospel with classical influences. In the late 1970s, he formed the Richard Smallwood Singers, whose recordings in the 1980s brought him national attention. Songs like “I Love the Lord” became gospel standards; Whitney Houston later recorded it for The Preacher’s Wife soundtrack.

Vision and grief

In the 1990s, Smallwood formed the choir Vision. “Total Praise” appeared on the album Adoration: Live in Atlanta in 1996.

Smallwood said he wrote “Total Praise” during a difficult time, when friends were dying and his mother was ill. The song expresses trust in God when strength runs out.

Total Praise

The lyrics speak of lifting one’s eyes to the hills, trusting that help comes from God and finding his peace in the middle of a storm. They draw on Psalm 121: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains; where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.” The song combines classical harmony and choral writing with gospel feeling. Its final amens, rising in key and volume, are among the most dramatic moments in gospel music.

“Total Praise” is sung by church choirs, university choirs and gospel choirs across the world. It is a fixture at funerals, ordinations and concerts.

Recognition

Ghanaian, Nigerian and South African choirs regularly perform the song, often at major church events. Its classical style suits mass choirs. Smallwood received Dove and Stellar awards, eight Grammy nominations and a place in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Smallwood died on 30 December 2025 in Sandy Spring, Maryland, aged 77, from complications of kidney failure. At his funeral at First Baptist Church of Glenarden in January 2026, the preacher took Psalm 121 as his text, the psalm behind “Total Praise”, and the service was filled with the songs Smallwood wrote.

Classical roots

Smallwood studied classical piano, and his compositions often used harmonies and structures from the classical tradition. That blend made his music popular with trained choirs as well as church congregations. A song written while friends were dying has become a hymn of praise sung on every continent. That journey from grief to amen is what choirs are singing about each time they reach the end.