Tag Archives: music review

Fifteenth in a series of posts that go through hymns in The Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. 

Hymn #54

My song forever shall record

 My song forever shall record
the tender mercies of thte Lord;
thy faithfulness will I proclaim,
and every age shall know thy name.
I sing of mercies that endure,
forever builded firm and sure.

Almighty God, thy lofty throne
has justice for its cornerstone,
and shining bright efore thy face
are truth and love and boundless grace.
The heavens shall join in glad accord
to praise thy wondrous works, O Lord.

The swelling sea obeys thy will;
its angry waves my voice can still;
the heavens and earth,|by right divine,
the world and all therein are thine;
the whole creation’s wondrous frame
proclaims its Maker”s glorious name.

With blessing is the nation crowned
whose people know the joyful sound;
they in the light, O Lord, shall live,
the light thy face and favour give.
Their fame and might to thee belong,
for in thy favour they are strong. 

I really like this hymn.  It is new to me, that is it hasn’t been used at my church or at least not often, but I think it deserves to be used more often.  The lyrics are nicely paraphrased into singable poetry which match the phrase lengths and rhyme nicely.

The melody is lovely and lilting and has a nice little switch-up at the end of the second phrase to transition into the third which is different.  It ends up being A A’ B in form.  The harmony parts are interesting to sing and add to the overall appeal of the piece.

Fourteenth in a series of posts that go through hymns in The Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. 

Hymn #51

There where the judges gather

There where the judges gather, a greater takes the seat;
“How long,” God asks the judges, “will you pronounce deceit?
How long show special favour to those of ill repute?
How long neglect the orphan, the poor and desitute?

Deal justly with the needy; protect the powerless;
deliver the afflicted from those who would oppress,
but you are surely blinded; you do not understand:
therefore foundations totter; injustice rocks the land.”

God speaks: “I named you rulers, to serve the Most High God,
but you shall die as mortals and perish by my rod.”
Arise, O God, in judgement, your sovereignty make known,
for yours are all the nations: the peoples are your own.

I don’t really like the flow of the lyrics for this hymn.  The Psalm itself is far easier to follow and is not divided into even length stanzas which fits better with the meaning. 

Munich is a good tune, though not very familiar in my church.  Another suggestion given is St. Theodulph (214, 115) which is quite familiar.

Thirteenth in a series of posts that go through hymns in The Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. 

Hymn #47

Remember not, O God

Remember not, O God,
the sins of long ago;
in tender mercy visit us,
distressed and humbled low.

O Lord, our Saviour, help,
and glorify your name;
deliver us from all our sins
and take away our shame

Then, safe within your fold,
we will exalt your name;
our thankful hearts with songs of joy
your goodness will proclaim.

The poetry of this is quite nice.  I read it aloud and the flow is great. It basically sums up two stanzas of detailed lists of sins of the nations, nineteen lines of poetry, down into one line, “Remember not, O God, the sins of long ago;”  The full Psalm is a lot more raw than the paraphrase.

Southwell, the tune, is short and simple.  In a minor key and very stepwise it is not hard to sing.  The rhythm provides some interest with the dotted rhythm in the third phrase which breaks up the square feeling from the other three phrases.  I would be inclined to ignore the half-note value for the first word of each verse and just have a quarter-note pick-up which then matches the other phrases.