There are several well-known Christian hymns in our hymnal that predate the Restoration and the organization of the LDS church. “A Mighty Fortress,” “All Creatures of our God and King,” and “O God our Help in Ages Past” are my favorites.
A German hymn
Both words and tune of “A Mighty Fortress” were written by Martin Luther. The hymn scholar Eric Routley said that Luther was the only person who ever managed to write both words and music and produce a famous hymn. The original music to “A Mighty Fortress” had the same melody as the one we all know and love, but, in true Renaissance style, the rhythm is more lively and syncopated. The 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship includes both versions, along with one of the standard English translations of Luther’s hymn.Our hymnal includes the first of the four verses. I understand why the editors would have deleted the second verse. It begins, “though hordes of devils fill the land/All threatening to devour us.” Luther lived during a time when people were extremely superstitious, and actually thought they saw devils around every corner. Today we have plenty of devils to contend with, metaphorically speaking, so this hymn feels especially pertinent to the latter days. The hymn tune has always been popular, so there is a great deal of organ music based on it, including a chorale prelude by Bach (BWV 720).
An international effort
The English text of "All Creatures of our God and King" is loosely based on one of the most famous poems in the Italian language, St. Francis of Assisi’s “Cantico delle creatore” (Canticle of the Creatures). It is a poem about nature and the elements, but it is also a poem about opposites: the sun and moon, sister and brother. The end of the poem reads,
“Praised be You, my Lord, for those who forgive out of love for You
And bear infirmity and tribulation:
Blessed are those who suffer in peace,
For by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
William H. Draper’s translation bears little resemblance to the original, but is a good poem in its own right. The melody is German, and the harmonization is by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It has a difficult pedal part. If you are not best friends with the pedal board, you should play it on the manuals alone.
“O God Our God in Ages Past” is based on psalms 90, 91, and 48, and written by the famous hymn writer Isaac Watts. I like to play this at a stately tempo rather than rush through it. Bach’s fugue in E-flat major, BWV 552, is called “St. Anne” because it happens to resemble the tune of this popular hymn. It is one of my favorite Bach pieces. Like the prelude before it, it uses numerology, form, and music to represent the three members of the Godhead. The fugue consists of three separate fugues, all of which incorporate the “St. Anne” tune. A free listen/download to the prelude that goes with this fugue is available online.Go to the URL below and click on “sample track.” http://www.georgeritchie.com/VolumeIII.htm
More German hymns: the organ music of Flor Peeters
Flor Peeters 1903-1986 was a famous Belgian organist and composer. Among other things, he wrote a great many choral preludes for organ. Many of the hymns tunes he set are German in origin, some the same ones that Bach and other Baroque composers set. Lately I have been playing “O God, Thou Faithful, God” and “Now Rest Beneath Night’s Shadow”from Book 1 of30 chorale Preludes on Well Known Hymn Tunes: For Organ. I find them very soothing, and they make lovely preludes for sacrament meeting. The Flor Peeters website is at http://users.pandora.be/pima/indexE.htm
I believe that church music does not have to be difficult to be effective. Many of my compositions are written for churches that have limited resources. Below are two free choir anthems based on hymn tunes by famous composers.
"How Wondrous and Great" SATB with piano or organ. Based on the hymn tyne LYONS attributed to Joseph Michael Haydn.
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October, 2007