GENEVAN 33

GENEVAN 33

Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel (1564, alt.)
Published in 1 hymnal


Printable scores: PDF, Sibelius
Audio files: MIDI

Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel

Claude Goudimel (c. 1514 to 1520 – between 28 August and 31 August 1572) was a French composer, music editor and publisher, and music theorist of the Renaissance. Claude Goudimel was born in Besançon. Few details of his life are known until he is documented in Paris in 1549, where he was studying at the University of Paris; in that year he also published a book of chansons. In the early 1550s he worked with printer Nicolas Du Chemin, and may have still been studying at the University of Paris until 1555; by 1555 he was also Du Chemin's partner in the publishing business. Goudimel moved to Metz in 1557, converting to Protestantism, and is known to have been associated with the Huguenot cause there; however he left Metz due to the in… Go to person page >

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Tune Information

Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel (1564, alt.)
Meter: Irregular
Key: a minor
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Texts

Rejoice! Sing Praise to Your Creator

Rejoice! Sing praise to your Creator,
for it is good to praise the LORD.
Make music with guitar and trumpet;
blend skillfully each note and word.
All God's words are truthful.
All his works are faithful.
He loves righteousness.
To the earth and heavens
constant care is given
with unfailing love.
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All texts published with GENEVAN 33^ top

Notes

Psalm 33 was first set to GENEVAN 33 in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter. The tune is generally attributed to Louis Bourgeois (PHH 3), the composer who served as editor of that psalter. The Psalter Hymnal includes two versions of a harmonization by Claude Goudimel (PHH 6): an adapted one to place the melody in the soprano, and the original 1564 setting (opposite 32) with the melody in the tenor, which was custom¬ary for that time. GENEVAN 33 is in Dorian mode; the two long opening lines of this bar form (AABC) are contrasted by even longer lines of three phrases each. A majestic tempo is helpful in negotiating the rhythms and the bountiful text. Sing (and play) stanzas 1-4 antiphonally (with some use of the alternate harmonization), and have everyone join in unison on stanza 5.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #33
Text: Rejoice! Sing Praise to Your Creator
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