Jeff, is not harmonizing rests a bad thing or good in your book, or is there something else wrong with the one you linked? Google brings up dozens of settings, of which I like this one. See? No unharmonized rests!

Another strategy would be to search for the French tune name "De tout mon coeur t'exalteray" (Ps. 9). Goudimel sets it nicely for 4 parts; I'd be happy to copy it in Sib3 in exchange for a review copy.

My thought was that if the chords would continue (and change or resolve) on the rests, this might might it easier for the congregation to join in the singing. ut of course I am looking at all that you have done, and the ones E-mailed to me privately. THANKS, all !

Here is mine. Any comments? I will also send it by e-mail as requested. The canon is bonus, and not an exact canon either.

Thanks Heath, I caught them this morning (I was up until about 2am and posted before proofreading). I'm posting a new version with "motion through the rests", hopefully in the style that Jeff is looking for, although I actually have the organ sustaining the melody note through the rests (so the cadential half notes become whole notes), and put a double-whole note at the end for the final flourish. Even with the new material, it's pretty clear that I'm composing for SATB voice leading (it's a hymn, after all, and it should be an SATB setting). New PDF is enclosed.

I'm not convinced that having harmonic rhythm in the accompaniment driving one phrase into the next is always a good thing - for example when one is accompanying a hymn in a very large space on a very large organ (when the effect can simply muddy the texture). But that's what Jeff seems to want.

Chuck

Edit: I added the file (...0.pdf) that corrects parallel octaves in the orginal harmonization that I posted earlier. The (...2.pdf) file is the newer harmonization that flows through the rests in the original tune.

Edit: I've further updated the two files, with minor fixes and rebarring.