VERGEEF, O HEER

VERGEEF, O HEER

Composer: Gerben Baaij; Harmonizer: Dale Grotenhuis (1983)
Published in 1 hymnal


Audio files: MIDI

Composer: Gerben Baaij

(no biographical information available about Gerben Baaij.) Go to person page >

Harmonizer: Dale Grotenhuis

Grotenhuis grew up in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) and graduated from Calvin College with a music major. He obtained his Master's degree in music from Michigan State University and completed doctoral studies at Ohio State University. While in the Army, he was chief music arranger for the 2nd Army Band and conducted its Male Chorus. Before coming to Dordt, Grotenhuis taught music at Christian high schools in Washington and Michigan. Under his direction, the Dordt College concert choir participated in annual tours that took members throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. He loved the church and the music of the church. His favorite song was "All Glory Be to God on High". http://www.dordt.edu (last two sentences from… Go to person page >

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Tune Information

Composer: Gerben Baaij
Harmonizer: Dale Grotenhuis (1983)
Meter: 8.8.8
Key: d minor
Copyright: Harmonization © 1987, CRC Publications; Tune © 1973, Leidboek voor de Kerken
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Texts

O LORD, I Call for Help by Day

O LORD, I call for help by day,
and in the night I still must cry.
Regard me, listen to my prayer.
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Notes

VERGEEF, O HEER, composed by Gerben Baaij (b. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1929), was first published in the Dutch hymnal Liedboek voor de Kerken (1973) as a setting for a translation of John Greenleaf Whittier's "Forgive, O Lord, Our Severing Ways." Baaij Studied organ, voice, and composition at the Protestant Church Music School in Utrecht. He is director of the Recreatie-centra of the Hervormde Kerk in the Netherlands and cantor and organist for the ecumenical services in the Doorn-Driebergen region.

Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) harmonized the tune in 1983. VERGEEF, O HEER is one of the few tunes in the Psalter Hymnal with only three lines; each is rhythmically unique, with the middle line providing the apex of the entire melodic curve. The song may be sung in parts or by two alternating groups, but stanzas 1 and 8 should always be sung by everyone.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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