REVELATION (Bourgeois)

REVELATION (Bourgeois)

Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1549)
Published in 4 hymnals


Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Composer: Louis Bourgeois

Louis Bourgeois (b. Paris, France, c. 1510; d. Paris, 1561). In both his early and later years Bourgeois wrote French songs to entertain the rich, but in the history of church music he is known especially for his contribution to the Genevan Psalter. Apparently moving to Geneva in 1541, the same year John Calvin returned to Geneva from Strasbourg, Bourgeois served as cantor and master of the choristers at both St. Pierre and St. Gervais, which is to say he was music director there under the pastoral leadership of Calvin. Bourgeois used the choristers to teach the new psalm tunes to the congregation. The extent of Bourgeois's involvement in the Genevan Psalter is a matter of scholar­ly debate. Calvin had published several partial psalter… Go to person page >

Tune Information

Title: REVELATION (Bourgeois)
Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1549)
Meter: 6.6.6.D.6.6.7.D
Incipit: 52232 11234 32611
Key: G Major
Source: Genevan Psalter, 1542;Genevan 19
Copyright: Public Domain

Texts

The Spacious Heavens Laud

The Spacious Heavens Tell

The spacious heavens tell
the glory of the LORD;
the skies his work proclaim.
Each day and night is heard
their voice in all the earth;
they glorify God's name.
Each day the mighty sun
rejoices in its run,
arising in the morning
a bridegroom coming forth,
a runner on the course
bright shining in its glory.

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Notes

GENEVAN 19 was first published in the 1542 Genevan Psalter and altered to its present shape in the 1549 edition. Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) wrote the harmonization in 1985. Composed in the Mixolydian mode, this tune consists of four long lines, each containing three short phrases. The repetition of the first line and the dependable rhythmic patterns make this tune quite accessible for congregational singing.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Timeline

Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #19
Text: The Spacious Heavens Tell
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
Text InfoTune InfoScoreAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #19

Include 3 pre-1979 instances
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