When Morning Gilds the Skies

Representative Text

1 When morning gilds the sky,
our hearts awaking cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
in all our work and prayer
we ask his loving care:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

2 To God, the Word on high,
the hosts of angels cry:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals too upraise
their voices in hymns of praise:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

3 Let earth's wide circle round
in joyful notes resound:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let air and sea and sky
from depth to height reply:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

4 Be this, when day is past,
of all our thoughts the last:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day
when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

5 Then let us join to sing
to Christ, our loving King:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this the eternal song
through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Psalter Hymnal, 1987

Translator: Edward Caswall

Edward Caswall was born in 1814, at Yately, in Hampshire, where his father was a clergyman. In 1832, he went to Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1836, took a second-class in classics. His humorous work, "The Art of Pluck," was published in 1835; it is still selling at Oxford, having passed through many editions. In 1838, he was ordained Deacon, and in 1839, Priest. He became perpetural Curate of Stratford-sub-Castle in 1840. In 1841, he resigned his incumbency and visited Ireland. In 1847, he joined the Church of Rome. In 1850, he was admitted into the Congregation of the Oratory at Birmingham, where he has since remained. He has published several works in prose and poetry. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: When morning gilds the skies, My heart awakening cries (Caswall)
Title: When Morning Gilds the Skies
German Title: Beim frühen Morgenlicht
Translator: Edward Caswall (1854)
Source: German, 1828
Place of Origin: Germany
Language: English
Notes: Spanish translations: See "Del alba al despuntar" by Anonymous, "Del alba al resplandor"
Copyright: Public Domain
Liturgical Use: Opening Hymns

Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Ps. 34:1
st. 2 = Rev. 5:6-14
st. 3 = Ps. 19:1
ref. = Heb. 13:15

This litany of praise to Christ was translated from an anonymous
German text, "Beim frühen Morgenlicht," thought to date from around 1800 (perhaps even the mid-1700s). The German text was first published in Sebastian Portner's Katholisches Gesangbuch (1828) in fourteen stanzas of couplets with a refrain line.

Edward Caswall's English translation, prepared from one of several variants of the text, was published in six stanzas in Henry Formby's Catholic Hymns (1854). Caswall (b. Yately, Hampshire, England, 1814; d. Edgebaston, Birmingham, England, 1878) published another eight stanzas in his Masque of Mary (1858). Like most other hymnals, the Psalter Hymnal provides a text taken from various parts of the Caswall translation.

A morning hymn (st. 1) as well as an evening hymn (st. 4), the text presents praise to Christ from angels and human creatures (st. 2) and from the elements of earth to the farthest reach of the cosmos (st. 3). In fact, this text is for all times and places: "Be this the eternal song"!

Caswell, the son of an Anglican clergyman, studied for the priesthood at Brasenose College, Oxford, England. He was ordained in 1839 and served the church in Stratford-sub-Castle but resigned his position in 1847. By this time he had become deeply involved in the Oxford Movement, an Anglican movement with strong Roman Catholic leanings. In 1847 Caswell and his wife traveled to Rome, where they were received into the Roman Catholic Church. After his wife's death Caswell became a Roman Catholic priest and joined the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Birmingham, a group supervised by John Henry Newman, an earlier Roman Catholic convert from the Church of England. Caswell then devoted himself to two main tasks–serving the poor of Birmingham and writing and translating hymns, mainly from the Latin office-books and from German sources. Many of his translations were published in his Lyra Catholica (1849) and, with revisions, in Hymns and Poems (1873).

Liturgical Use:
Many occasions as a hymn of praise to Christ; a hymn for all seasons and all times of worship–morning, midday, or evening; could also frame the day of worship with stanzas 1-3 used at the beginning of morning worship and stanzas 4-5 used as a doxology for evening worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1987
=================================================================================
When morning gilds the skies, by E. Caswall, first published in H. Formby's Catholic Hymns, London, N. D., 1854 [approbation May 3, 1853], p. 44, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines and double refrain. In Caswall's Masque of Mary, 1858, 8 stanzas were added, and thus in his Hymns & Poems, 1873, p. 155, in 28 stanzas of 2 lines and refrain, entitled "The Praises of Jesus," the first line being given as "Gelobt sey Jesus Christ," which, as will be seen above, is the original refrain. The full text is given unaltered as No. 269 in the Appendix to the Hymnal Noted, 3rd edition, 1867.
This hymn has attained considerable popularity, and is found in varying centos, as in Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1868-75; Hymnary, 1872; Baptist Hymnal, 1879; Scottish Free Church Hymn Book, 1882; Border's Collection, 1884; and in America in the Baptist Praise Book, 1871; Evangelical Hymnal, N. Y., 1880; Laudes Domini, 1884, and others. Generally it appears under its original first line, but in the People's Hymnal, 1867, it is divided into two parts, No. 446 beginning "The night becomes as day," which is stanza xi. of the 1828, and stanza xx. of the text of 1873. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.]

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

LAUDES DOMINI (Barnby)

Joseph Barnby (b. York, England, 1838; d. London, England, 1896) composed LAUDES DOMINI for this text [When morning gilds the skies] Tune and text were published together in the 1868 Appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern and they have been inseparable ever since. An accomplished and popular choral di…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
Baptist Hymnal 1991 #221
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
The Cyber Hymnal #7374
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #438
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
The United Methodist Hymnal #185
  • Full Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
Worship and Rejoice #111

Instances

Instances (1 - 91 of 91)
TextPage Scan

African American Heritage Hymnal #186

TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #29

Ambassador Hymnal #206

Text

Ancient and Modern #9

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #822

TextFlexScoreAudio

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #221

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #141

Bible Truth Hymns #5

TextPage Scan

Catholic Book of Worship III #655

TextPage Scan

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #345

TextPage Scan

Chalice Hymnal #100

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #344

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #172

TextPage Scan

Common Praise (1998) #2

TextPage Scan

Common Praise #619

Page Scan

Community of Christ Sings #89

TextPage Scan

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #739

Page Scan

Complete Mission Praise #756

TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #392

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #85

Text InfoTextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Glory to God #667

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #152

Hymnal #644

Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #146

Hymns and Psalms #276a

Hymns and Psalms #276b

TextPage Scan

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #60

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #223

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Faith #10

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Promise #42

Hymns of the Christian Life #46

Hymns of the Saints #35

Hymns Old and New #551

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #68

TextPage Scan

Lead Me, Guide Me (2nd ed.) #687

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Lift Up Your Hearts #372

Living Hymns #4

Living Hymns #4

TextPage Scan

Moravian Book of Worship #552

TextPage Scan

One in Faith #496

TextPage Scan

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism #35

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #718

Page Scan

Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #60

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #197

Text InfoTune InfoTextScoreFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #438

Redeeming Love #77

Page Scan

Rejoice Hymns #71

TextPage Scan

Rejoice in the Lord #365

TextPage Scan

RitualSong #858

Santo, Santo, Santo #466

TextPage Scan

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #43

Sing Glory #74

TextPage Scan

Sing Joyfully #66

Singing the Faith #368

Page Scan

Soul-stirring Songs and Hymns (Rev. ed.) #163

TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #39

The Baptist Hymnal #185

The Book of Praise #438

TextPage Scan

The Celebration Hymnal #215

The Christian Life Hymnal #51

Page Scan

The Covenant Hymnal #320

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #7374

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #87

The Irish Presbyterian Hymbook #7

The New Century Hymnal #86

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #473a

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #473b

TextPage Scan

The Presbyterian Hymnal #487

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #187

TextFlexScoreAudio

The United Methodist Hymnal #185

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #208

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #209

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #209a

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement II #107

Text

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement II #108

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement II #109

TextFlexScoreAudio

The Worshiping Church #99

Text

Together in Song #227

TextPage Scan

Total Praise #178

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #167

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #157

TextPage Scan

With Heart and Voice #116

TextPage Scan

Worship (3rd ed.) #675

TextPage Scan

Worship (4th ed.) #849

TextScoreAudioPage Scan

Worship and Rejoice #111

TextPage Scan

Worship and Service Hymnal #140

Worship His Majesty #37

TextAudio

Worship in Song #34

Text

Yes, Lord! #12

生命聖詩 - Hymns of Life, 1986 #487

찬송과 예배 = Chansong gwa yebae = Come, Let Us Worship #369

Include 603 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us