Hymn of the Day: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (ELW 502)
Text: Henry W. Baker (1821–1877)
Tune: ST. COLUMBA, Irish tune
The Tune St. Columba is named for the Irish saint who took Irish Christianity to Scotland (and is reputed to have been the first to report a sighting of the Loch Ness monster in 546). The tune is an Irish melody collected by George Petrie (1789-1866) and which appeared in Charles Villers Stanford's Complete Collection of Irish Music as noted by George Petrie, in 1902.
The words of the hymn The King of Love my Shepherd Is, often sung to this tune, are by Henry W. Baker, who played a large part in the creation of the earliest edition of "Hymns Ancient and Modern". Baker was born in 1821, in London. He was awarded a BA in 1844 and an MA 3 years later by Trinity College, Cambridge. Ordained in 1844, he became vicar of Monkland in Herefordshire in 1851, a position he held until his death in 1877.
Offertory The Lord Is My Shepherd Thomas Matthews (1915-1999)
The Lord Is My Shepherd by Thomas Matthews, who sang in the Grace Church (Utica) Choir as a Chorister, He was a longtime organist, choirmaster and resident composer at Trinity Episcopal Church, Tulsa. His music is beloved by church choirs and congregations around the world.
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
For Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
Opening Voluntary “St. Columba” (The King of Love My Shepherd Is) Justin McCarthy
Some additional information about this tune and text: “The King of Love My Shepherd Is,” a text by Sir Henry William Baker, initially paired with the tune, DOMINUS REGIT ME. Because the compilers of the 1906 English Hymnal were denied permission to use this original tune, musical editor Ralph Vaughan Williams turned to a folk tune recently edited for a collection of Irish music. With some small but notable improvements, ST. COLUMBA has proven to be an equally satisfying pairing of text and tune.
Closing Voluntary: Jesus Lives (St. Albinus) Paul Bryan
The hymn tune ST. ALBINUS was composed by Henry J. Gauntlett (1805-1876). When he was nine years old, became organist at his father's church in Olney, Buckinghamshire. At his father's insistence he studied law, practicing it until 1844, after which he chose to devote the rest of his life to music. He was an organist in various churches in the London area and became an important figure in the history of British pipe organs. A designer of organs for William Hill's company, Gauntlett extended the organ pedal range and in 1851 took out a patent on electric action for organs. Felix Mendelssohn chose him to play the organ part at the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham, England, in 1846. Gauntlett is said to have composed some ten thousand hymn tunes, most of which have been forgotten. Also a supporter of the use of plainchant in the church, Gauntlett published the Gregorian Hymnal of Matins and Evensong (1844).