As far as I recall, I didn’t learn this hymn until relatively recently, at St Paul’s Cathedral on the Octagon, in Dunedin. Then, as I was looking at hymns that connected with the readings for Sunday 15th August, I saw it listed. The text is rich in scripture references, and connects well to our reading about Christian Living from Ephesians 5. Not only that, but the tune that I’d previously heard it sung to was originally written by the great German composer, Robert Schumann, just begging to be part of my project of hymn tunes written by Master Composers of previous centuries.
And that was it, really, the challenge was on. Could I, in less than a week, write an orchestral score that paid homage to Schumann’s original work for piano while fitting with Charles Wesley’s text and get it performed and recorded in time? Well, here we are! What do you think?
Listen to the Audio file here, or preview the SD version on YouTube.
The five most commonly sung of Charles Wesley's verses, available as audio only, or as a Lyric Video in two sizes, in a setting which is a comfortable sing for all congregations.
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