As a follow-up to this morning’s post, Keepa’ninny Maurine sends this scan of “My Redeemer” as it appears in one of the hymnals of the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS). She writes,
You will notice that the music is not exactly like the music to “Oh My Father.” The chorus of “My Redeemer” is in 12/8, or four beats to the measure, where “Oh My Father” stays in three beats to the measure, as is the verse.
For one of our sacrament meetings a few years ago when I was music chairman and choir director, I did a history of “Oh My Father” and had it sung to all of the different musical settings in its history (including the setting of “Gentle Annie” that was mentioned on Keepa a while ago. We sang a verse of “My Redeemer” as an intro to the story of Philip Bliss and the music by James McGranahan. My choir loved singing this arrangement.
Thanks, Maurine!
This is fantastic, and rounds out nicely the stuff we learned in the prior posts.
And what a lovely idea, Maurine, to do a sort of musical review of “Oh, My Father.” Me likey.
Wow. All sorts of cool.
. . . Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave;
Some poor fainting, struggling sea-man
You may rescue, you may save.
—”Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy,” words and music by Philip Paul Bliss.
Your guilt trip worked. Now get your butt over to Nine Moons and comment on my Valentine’s Day post.
You are giving me ideas for a musical selection in my home ward. Thanks.