ST. CRISPIN

Composer: George J. Elvey

Composed by George J. Elvey (PHH 48) in 1862 for 'Just as I Am, without One Plea" (263), ST. CRISPIN was first published in the 1863 edition of Edward Thorne's Selection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes. The tune title honors a third-century Roman martyr, Crispin, who, along with Crispinian, preached in Gaul (modern-day France); these two missionaries are the patron saints of shoemakers and leather workers.

ST. CRISPIN has an attractive melodic contour. Its repeated notes are typical of other "generic" British hymn tunes from the later nineteenth century (for example, QUEBEC, 141,307; PENTECOST, 212; MORECAMBE, 419; and MARYTON, 573). Sing it in harmony, perhaps unaccompanied on one of the inner stanzas. The parallel structure of the text also invites singing stanzas in alternation between either men or women or two sides of the congregation.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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