19. When morning gilds the skies
19th century
Tr. E. Caswall, 1814-78
A radiant morning hymn of adoration. It comes from the German song, “Bei frühem Morgenlicht,” of unknown authorship, which first appeared in print in the Katholisches Gesangbuch, 1828, bearing the title, “A Christian Greeting.”
Bei frühem Morgenlicht
Erwacht mein Herz und spricht.
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
So sing ich früh and spät,
Bei Arbeit und Gebet,
Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
The translator, Edward Caswall, was an English scholar and clergyman, educated at Oxford. He left the Church of England to become a Roman Catholic priest. Caswall did much for the sick poor and the poor children in Birmingham, England, where he lived. He wrote excellent original hymns and made many translations from German and Latin sources. (See Nos. [88] and [155].)
MUSIC. O SEIGNEUR was composed or arranged by the Frenchman L. Bourgeois, c. 1500- c. 1561, who was an adherent of Calvin and followed him to Geneva in 1541. He was assigned by Calvin the task of providing music for the metrical psalter, but his work was attended with troubles and difficulties. Once he was thrown in prison for making unauthorized alterations in certain well-known tunes. He tried hard to introduce part-singing in a day when only unison singing was permitted by Calvin. Not succeeding in this, he left Geneva and returned to Paris, his birthplace. O SEIGNEUR is a superb tune. It gathers interest and force throughout its considerable length. The tune, which also may be used as a choir anthem, should be sung in fairly lively tempo to bring out its extraordinary power.