29 Apr 2024

Psaume 27

This is not from the Genevan Psalter, but it is in French and uses what would seem to be a standard hymn tune with a 9 8 9 8 4 metre. But I've been unable to find it in my hymnals, and it's not familiar to me. It may be better known in France than in North America. Here is Psalm 27 sung a cappella:

 
 
Addendum: I have new information from my friend Lucas Freire. The tune is by Franz Josef Haydn, and the lyrics are by Henri Abraham César Malan (1787-1864), the Swiss Reformed poet who was converted during the Réveil, the evangelical revival that swept through Europe following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The earliest publication Freire could find was in the fourth edition of Chants Évangéliques, published in 1892 in Lausanne. Incidentally, while this version of Psalm 27 is numbered 55 in this volume, number 38 is Genevan Psalm 103, 52 is Genevan Psalm 116, and 59 is a christological interpretation of Psalm 23. Number 49 is the Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55.

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