Alternate lyrics for Diadem (Ellor)
  • PLTT
    Posts: 149
    I recently heard (as part of a medley) the first verse of "While Shepherds watched their flocks" sung to the tune Diadem (aka All Hail the pow'r of Jesus name) by James Ellor. It got me wondering whether that tune can be paired with any other text? Does anyone know of any such texts?
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,724
    Strictly speaking, any text can be paired with any melody of the same meter. I switch texts and melodies alllllll the time (we use worship aids, obviously). All you have to do is go on hymnary.org and search by meter. It will then serve you all the texts and tunes that share that meter that are in the database.
    Thanked by 1LauraKaz
  • PLTT
    Posts: 149
    Yes… the text is Common Meter and so theoretically the tune can be used for any Common Meter text. But practically, the repetitions near the end make it difficult. In the original text (“All Hail the power of Jesus name”), it occurs at “Crown him”. But in other hymns, the phrase may not be very suitable or striking. For example, if used for “While shepherds watch”, for the first stanza it occurs at “glory” (suitable) but in the second stanza, at “you and” (unsuitable). That’s why I was wondering if there was any other text people knew of that lined up nicely with the melody.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,724
    One thing to be careful of when switching tunes is that some tunes have pickup bars, and others start on strong beats, so it isn’t always possible to apply particular tunes even if the meter matches on paper, because the emPHAsis is in the wrong place. The other issue that PLTT just brought up is a good one too: special texts with ritournellos or emphasized lines of text that require peculiar musical emphasis. The part of All hail the pow’r of Jesus’ name that goes, “And crown Him Looooooord uuuuhhhhhvvvv all!” won’t translate well to other tunes, and that part—musically speaking—will emphasize that line of text if another is paired, which may not be desirable. So the principal of swapping/sharing tunes is sound, but there are peculiar instances where it’s not necessarily prudent or elegant to do so.
    Thanked by 1LauraKaz
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,151
    Strictly speaking, any text can be paired with any melody of the same meter.
    One thing to be careful of when switching tunes is that some tunes have pickup bars, and others start on strong beats, so it isn’t always possible to apply particular tunes even if the meter matches on paper, because the emPHAsis is in the wrong place

    The classical Short, Common, and Long meters are all iambic, which means the stress pattern is short long (not long short). Thus, at CPDL and in many a hymnal metrical index, one will see, for example, Long Meter (88. 88) tunes listed separately from 88. 88 (trochaic) tunes (having stress pattern long short). In other words, the number and distribution of syllables do not characterize a tune; but rather, these together with the stress pattern characterize a tune.

    Thanked by 1ServiamScores
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