GENEVAN 47

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 >

Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel

The music of Claude Goudimel (b. Besançon, France, c. 1505; d. Lyons, France, 1572) was first published in Paris, and by 1551 he was composing harmonizations for some Genevan psalm tunes-initially for use by both Roman Catholics and Protestants. He became a Calvinist in 1557 while living in the Huguenot community in Metz. When the complete Genevan Psalter with its unison melodies was published in 1562, Goudimel began to compose various polyphonic settings of all the Genevan tunes. He actually composed three complete harmonizations of the Genevan Psalter, usually with the tune in the tenor part: simple hymn-style settings (1564), slightly more complicated harmonizations (1565), and quite elaborate, motet-like settings (1565-1566). The vario… Go to person page >

Tune Information

Title: GENEVAN 47
Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel (1564)
Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
Meter: 5.5.5.5.5.5. D.
Incipit: 53123 43221 55671
Key: D Major
Copyright: Public Domain

Texts

Peoples, Clap Your Hands!

Peoples, clap your hands! Shout to God with joy!
King of all the earth is the Lord Most High;
All humanity stands in awe of God.
With a mighty hand God brings nations low,
And beneath our feet casts down every foe;
Our inheritance comes from God the Lord.

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Nations, Clap Your Hands

Praise The Lord, Ye Lands

Alternative Tunes

Notes

GENEVAN 47 was first published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter, which was supervised by Louis Bourgeois (PHH 3); Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) harmonized it in the tenor in 1564. Restored to its exciting original rhythms in this edition of the Psalter Hymnal, this tune could well serve as the model for what Shakespeare called "Genevan jigs." The rhythmic pattern is the same for each of the six long phrases of this major (Ionian) tune. Use a bright organ registration, and do not hesitate to try percussion; in fact, the biblical text calls for clapping.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Timeline

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Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #47
Text: Nations, Clap Your Hands
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Instances

Instances (1 - 7 of 7)
Text InfoAudio

Glory to God #261

FlexScoreAudio

Lift Up Your Hearts #216

Psalms for All Seasons #47E

Text InfoTune InfoScoreAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #47

The Book of Praise #31

The Presbyterian Hymnal #194

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #47B

Include 1 pre-1979 instance
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