GENEVAN 27

GENEVAN 27

Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
Published in 1 hymnal


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: GENEVAN 27
Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
Meter: 11.10.11.10.10.10.10.10
Incipit: 53455 11716 52354
Key: C Major
Copyright: Public Domain

Texts

The LORD God Is My Light and My Salvation

The LORD God is my light and my salvation
whom shall I fear? He is my sheltering wall.
When enemies arise and turn against me,
they stumble on their slippery paths and fall.
I will not fear though enemies assault;
my confidence in God erases doubt.
Though battles rage, the LORD will keep me near;
I trust in him and I shall never fear.

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Notes

First published in the 1551 Genevan Psalter, GENEVAN 27 has been generally attributed to Louis Bourgeois (PHH 3), editor of that psalter. Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) com¬posed the harmonization in 1986 for the Psalter Hymnal. Though one of the longer and more difficult Genevan tunes, 27 is accessible because of the repeat of the first two lines and the use of smaller intervals. The tune is mostly Mixolydian. Sing this music with a comfortable tempo that permits the long lines of text to be clearly expressed.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Arrangements

Organ Solo

  • Our Hope for Years to Come: Hymn Partitas and Variations
    Composer/Editor Andrew Senn
    Published By: The Sacred Music Press (2019) pp. 60

Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #27
Text: The LORD God Is My Light and My Salvation
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
Text InfoTune InfoScoreAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #27

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