59. Father Almighty, bless us with Thy blessing
Anonymous
A prayer of invocation seeking the blessing and guidance of Almighty God. The authorship is anonymous.
MUSIC. INTEGER VITAE (or FLEMMING) was composed by Flemming for a chorus of men’s voices. It was set to “Integer Vitae,” an ode by Horace. The tune became a great favorite with college men not only in this country but also in England and Germany. It was introduced as a hymn tune through the hymnals of Dr. Charles R. Robinson, Songs of the Sanctuary, and Laudes Domine, and has since been widely used and accepted as one of our most satisfactory hymn tunes. It is one of the favorite tunes in the Gesangbuch mit Noten where it is set to the words, “Ach mein Herr Jesu.”
The composer, Frederick Ferdinand Flemming, M. D., 1778-1813, received his training in medicine and was a successful practitioner in Berlin. He is known to posterity, however, as a composer of part songs for men’s choruses, and more particularly as the composer of this tune.