GENEVAN 121

GENEVAN 121

Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
Published in 4 hymnals


Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Composer: Louis Bourgeois

Louis Bourgeois (b. Paris, France, c. 1510; d. Paris, 1561). In both his early and later years Bourgeois wrote French songs to entertain the rich, but in the history of church music he is known especially for his contribution to the Genevan Psalter. Apparently moving to Geneva in 1541, the same year John Calvin returned to Geneva from Strasbourg, Bourgeois served as cantor and master of the choristers at both St. Pierre and St. Gervais, which is to say he was music director there under the pastoral leadership of Calvin. Bourgeois used the choristers to teach the new psalm tunes to the congregation. The extent of Bourgeois's involvement in the Genevan Psalter is a matter of scholar­ly debate. Calvin had published several partial psalter… Go to person page >

Tune Information

Title: GENEVAN 121
Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
Meter: 8.6.6.8.7.7
Incipit: 12143 22144 34566
Key: F Major or modal
Source: Genevan 121
Copyright: Public Domain

Texts

Unto the Hills I lift Mine Eyes

Vers les monts j'ai levé mes yeux ('k Sla d' ogen naar 't gebergte heen)

I Lift My Eyes Up to the Hills

I lift my eyes up to the hills
where shall my help arise?
Our LORD alone provides.
God, who created heaven and earth,
will keep your foot from stumbling,
for God will never slumber.

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Notes

First published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter, GENEVAN 121 is in HypoMixolydian mode. Howard Slenk (PHH 3) provided the harmonization.

GENEVAN 121 is presented in original rhythm rather than in all even notes, as it had been in earlier editions of the Psalter Hymnal. The melody consists of two groups of three phrases in which phrases 2 and 3 are linked without a break. Because each phrase has its own rhythmic pattern, this tune may be difficult for some people to sing. That difficulty is balanced by the ease of the melodic intervals, which are almost always stepwise. Sing the tune with confidence, especially after the question in stanza 1.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook, 1988

Timeline

Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #180
Text: I Lift My Eyes Up to the Hills
  • Full Score (PDF, XML)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
Text InfoTune InfoScoreAudio

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #180

Include 3 pre-1979 instances
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