MAJESTY (Billings)

Composer: William Billings

William Billings (b. 1746; d. 1800) was an American choral composer, thought by some to be the father of American choral music. His father died when William was 14, and he was forced to drop all formal education and take up tanning to get by. With no formal musical training he began to compose, and his songs were well-loved and traveled quickly. However, due to unsubstantial copyright laws, Billings received hardly a penny from the publication of his music. After a period of fame and prosperity, his music was forgotten, and his last decade was one of decline. Married with six children, he died in poverty, though his music would be resurrected after his death and sung to this day. Laura de Jong Go to person page >

Tune Information

Title: MAJESTY (Billings)
Composer: William Billings (1778)
Meter: 8.6.8.6 D
Incipit: 51716 53143 11765
Key: D Major
Copyright: Public Domain

Texts

The Lord is King

O for a Thousand Tongues

O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer's praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #3935
Text: The Lord Descended from Above
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 4 of 4)

American Hymns Old and New #24

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #3935

The Norumbega Harmony #8

The Sacred Harp #291

Include 8 pre-1979 instances
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