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Hymn Blog - June 21, 2009
June 21, 2009 – Church Picnic
MV 41 – O Beautiful Gaia. American Carolyn McDade is well known for her songs of personal and social transformation. For three decades she has gathered circles of women to sing and reflect on life, the verses of this hymn coming from such a gathering in Atlantic Canada. The arrangement is by Lydia Pederson, former music director at Royal York Road United Church, and active member of the Hymn Society.
MV 88 – Over My Head. This is an African-American spiritual. The arrangement is by Stephen Lee, an American pianist, choir director and arranger.
MV 37 – Each Blade of Grass. Keri Wehlander is an author, hymn lyricist, liturgical dancer and leader of retreats and workshops. Spirituality and the arts provide a primary focus for her work in various settings in both her native Canada and the U.S. She has set this text , celebrating the many wonders of creation, to RHODE ISLAND, a tune from “The United States Sacred Harmony”, a songbook published by Amos Pilsbury in Boston in 1799.
VU 291 – All Things Bright and Beautiful. The text, by Cecil Frances Alexander, is from her “Hymns for Little Children” published in 1848, and which reached its 69th edition prior to the end of the 19th century. Her work was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement. This text is based on the phrase “Maker of heaven and earth” in the Apostles Creed. The tune, ROYAL OAK, is an English traditional melody from the 17th century, arranged by English composer Martin Shaw in 1915.
VU 267 – Like a Mighty River Flowing. This text was written by Michael Perry, a Church of England priest who served as secretary of Jubilate Hymns group. He was married to Beatrice Mary Stott. His untimely death in 1996 curtailed major service to the worlds of hymnody and church music. The 14th century German carol QUEM PASTORES LAUDAVERE was arranged by Ralph Vaughn Williams for the English Hymnal (1906).
MV 193 – God Bless to Us Our Bread. Author of the original Spanish text, Federico J. Pagura is co-president of the Ecumenical Movement for Human Rights in Argentina. A graduate of the Union Theological Seminary of Buenos Aires, Pagura pursued post-graduate studies in the USA. He holds a Dr Honoris causa degree from the University of Toronto, Canada. Pagura has served as president of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) and of the Council of Methodist Bishops in the Latin America and the Caribbean. A bishop emeritus of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina, Pagura is also a member of the board of the Life & Peace Institute of Uppsala, Sweden. A former member of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, Pagura was elected a president of the WCC by the Harare assembly in 1998. He is a writer, poet and composer of songs. The English translation of the text, and the arrangement of the traditional Argentinian melody to which it is set, are by John Bell, of the Iona Community. John is an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, a prolific writer of hymn texts and tunes and a Fellow of the Hymn Society.
