Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal [tune: Beaudry, 87. 87. 87] (Charles H. Giffen)
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Note (Palm Sunday, 2014-04-13): The hymn tune BEAUDRY (87. 87. 87) has undergone what should be a final revision as of yesterday, and the revision has been applied to the setting of "Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal." As a consequence, new PDF score and MP3 sound files have been uploaded here.

    *** Original post follows ***

    Last night I finished my hymn tune BEAUDRY (87. 87. 87) and set it to the text, "Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal" - a translation, by John Mason Neale from the Greek, of Ode IV from the Canon for Ascension Day, by Joseph of the Studium. This is an excellent text that has gone largely forgotten.

    There are three harmonizations, one rather straighforward, one a small elaboration on the first, and a third more striking harmonization that also has an accompanying descant.

    The PDF file has these three harmonizations, plus two melody only scores, one with the descant and one without the descant (also printed more narrowly for use as an insert).

    The MP3 sound file plays the first harmonization on organ alone, then with voices and full organ, then the second harmonization with voices and less than full organ, then the third harmonization with voices and full organ but no descant, and finally the third harmonization with voices, descant, and full organ.

    ******

    Note: The attached files are newly uploaded as of April 13th, 2014
    Giffen-Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal-rev.pdf
    126K
    Giffen-Beaudry (87. 87. 87)-rev-sound-80kbps.mp3
    2M
    Thanked by 2kenstb Salieri
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    This hymn setting has now been published at CPDL, with higher bit rate MP3 available there.

    There is plenty of time to prepare this as a hymn or motet for Ascension.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 11,937
    This is gorgeous! I will be using it for Ascension.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • kenstb
    Posts: 369
    Amen!! It's beautiful.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Note: The update here is obsolete. A subsequent revision has been uploaded and is available in the first post in this thread. The files originally uploaded in this post have been deleted.

    Update: In order to make the melody a little easier to negotiate, I have changed it in the penultimate measure to conform with the third measure (the two eighth notes), and modified the harmony to accommodate the melodic changes. The result is (I hope) even better than the original. The changes have been uploaded at CPDL and are attached here (the MP3 here is not as good as the one at CPDL, because of lower bit-rate necessary here).

    Coming soon: I'm also putting the finishing touches on a minor key (in reality, a Mode I) version of the tune BEAUDRY, which I've named MORGAN and will be releasing soon.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    I'm convinced that Beaudry and Morgan are the names of CHG's twin puggles.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    LOL Adam ... Actually,p my dear friend, Beaudry is my wife's mother's maiden name, while Morgan is my mother's maiden name.

    A pair of puggles we do not have, but long-hair miniature dachshunds we do; however, the two, Java Bean & Cocoa Bean, are not twins.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    Lovely, Chuck. You know i can't resist 'helping' though: how about, bar 8, let the bass go to the D on beat one, then E on beat two. Keep the alto on D both beats. That will fix your 'intonalism' problem i.e. a questionable leap in the bass. btw, for the skeptics, I noticed this by humming the very nice bass part to myself, and found I couldn't sing this measure naturally.

    And you might consider, bar 10, bass B instead of G, to avoid spoiling the nice effect at bar 11 by the anticipation of that note: then your low F# bar 9 has a two-bar movement to the meaningful words at bar 11, rather than a one-bar movement to less meaning-filled words at bar 10.
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    Java Bean & Cocoa Bean


    I will now be looking forward to a pair of Long-meter hymn tunes.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Thank you, William. I don't really have a problem with measure 8, since it is just a (transposed) ii-V-I cadence.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    ii-V-I, root position, is, as they say today, 'deprecated' in older harmony books.

    Needless to say, though: your music, naturally do as you see fit. For me it's just entertainment to rethink musical moments.
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    Again, playfully because it's your music (but seriously because it's my art): here is a sample recording from "and his Own" . first your way, second my way. Subtle differences, surely, but ....

    Opinions: The first cadence disappears into simplicity (my way): yours requires that low E for emphasis. The B instead of G, I think, is much more effective to point the words.

    giffen_beaudry_excerpts.mp3
    1M
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    ii-V-I, root position, is, as they say today, 'deprecated' in older harmony books.


    I'm adding this to my personal list of "weirdest things mrcopper has said on the Music Sacra forums."
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    I will now be looking forward to a pair of Long-meter hymn tunes.

    LOL ... How about a single Long Meter Double tune?
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    even better
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    I have not yet found my documentation re ii V. But this from Piston shows support for feeling your progression not quite right in bar 8: "In the progression II-V, it is customary not to repeat the common tone but to move the three upper voices down to the next available position."

    Adam, I'll work on more interesting quotables. Got to learn to use "ontological" in a sentence ...

    Something like this: "Adam sez, 'Go! Go on to logical! Go.' "
  • Adam WoodAdam Wood
    Posts: 6,451
    YMMROFLCOPTERS
  • ronkrisman
    Posts: 1,390
    YMMROFLCOPTERS

    That abbreviation is not listed on "Commonly Used Abbreviations on the Forum" and, until it is (thereby making its meaning clear), its use here only adds a layer of obfuscation to the serious discussion taking place about Piston-supported chord progressions.
    Thanked by 2Adam Wood mrcopper
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    Chonak, you are behind the times. Get to work, brother!
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,161
    I have no chance of keeping up with Adam's next play on internet lingo.
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,152
    Today, I have uploaded new PDF score and MP3 sound files of "Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal" that reflect final changes in the harmonization(s) of my hymn tune BEAUDRY (87. 87. 87). These were made in light of (1) the final(?) state of the minor key related hymn tune MORGAN (87. 87. 87) and (2) reflection upon some comments by William Copper.

    In addition to "Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal" (transl. J.M. Neale), I already have in mind other (interrelated, but older) texts for both of these tunes. Of course, I'm always open to other suggestions for sound, new texts.

    Here are links to the files in the first post (so you don't have to chase up to the top):

    Score for "Jesus, Lord of Life Eternal"

    Sound file for BEAUDRY (87. 87. 87)

    For comparison or whetting appetites, a preliminary MP3 sound file for the hymn tune MORGAN (87. 87. 87) is attached, with four harmonizations, the last including a descant.

    Finally, Adam asked for a pair of L.M. tunes, but when I offered a single L.M.D. tune as a possibility, he said that would be even better. Well, I have posted in another thread, ST. CROIX, with J.M. Neale's translation of "A solis ortus cardine" as the text, just such an L.M.D. tune.


    Giffen-Morgan (87. 87. 87)-96kbps.mp3
    2M
  • mrcoppermrcopper
    Posts: 653
    William Copper approves of the basic hymn.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
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