Please turn your hymnals to number 141 and join with the clarinets in, “For All the Saints”.
Number: 141
First Line: For All the Saints
Name: ST. MICHAEL (OLD 134th).
Meter: S.M.
Tempo: With dignity
Music: Genevan Psalter
Text: Richard Mant, 1776-1848
Clarinet Arrangement: 141-ForAllTheSaints
Having finished the hymns for “Trinity Sunday”, we are off to a sort of odds and ends section of the Lutheran Service Book and Hymnal called, “Saints’ Days and Minor Festivals”.
Along with the tune for “Old 100th”, the tune for “Old 134th” is also attributed to French composer Louis Bourgeois.
Loys “Louis” Bourgeois (French: [buʁʒwa]; c. 1510 – 1559) was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is most famous as one of the main compilers of Calvinisthymn tunes in the middle of the 16th century. One of the most famous melodies in all of Christendom, the Protestantdoxology known as the Old 100th, is commonly attributed to him.
Louis Bourgeois is the one most responsible for the tunes in the Genevan Psalter, the source for the hymns of both the Reformed Church in England and the Pilgrims in America. In the original versions by Bourgeois, the music is monophonic, in accordance with the dictates of John Calvin, who disapproved not only of counterpoint but of any multiple parts; Bourgeois though did also provide four-part harmonizations, but they were reserved for singing and playing at home. Many of the four-part settings are syllabic and chordal, a style which has survived in many Protestant church services to the present day.
Of the tunes in the Genevan Psalter, some are reminiscent of secular chansons, others are directly borrowed from the Strasbourg Psalter; The remainder were composed by successively Guillaume Franc, Louis Bourgeois and Pierre Davantès. By far the most famous of Bourgeois’ compositions is the tune known as the Old 100th.
This one definitely seems like a “Saints” sort of hymn.
Like Old 100th, this tune is pretty great and lends itself to rhythmic and harmonic re-interpretation. I’d dedicate this version below to one of my “Saints”, Saint Sonny Rollins, for his tune, “St Thomas”.
