Sunday, May 31, 2015

Come Thou, Almighty King

The Director of Music at the parish of St. William the Abbot does a magnificent job of selecting hymns appropriate for the Sunday feast (in its cycle) or the readings from Holy Scripture.  Among other hymns this Trinity Sunday, he chose "Come, Thou Almighty King. Help Us Thy Name to Sing."
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The Hymnary.org website helps explain the era and country in which the hymn was written anonymously:  18th Century England.  The melody (often indicated to the top right of the song page) merely says Italian Hymn, but is further described as written by Felice di Giardini (1716-1796) particularly for this beautiful Trinitarian hymn while he was in England!
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Note how the verses 1 to 3 each address a Person of the Trinity, and the fourth verse includes all in the mystery.
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Please see the Hymnary page HERE.  There's much on that page, so be sure to scroll through it.
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We also sang Reginald Heber's version of the Trisagion.  His biography on Wikipedia fascinates me, especially since three priests from India serve our parish for periods of time.
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We also sang "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name," a paraphrase of the Te Deum.

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