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Amazing grace
composer
early American melody
arranger
author of text
verse 6 is by an unknown author
Amazing grace was elevated to prominence by pop versions, the first of them made by Judy Collins in 1970, but both its tune and its text were written long before then. John Newton (1725–1807), the author of the somewhat autobiographical text, had been master of an English slave ship but became an ardent evangelical and abolitionist after coming in contact with Wesley and Whitefield. Following ordination, he was appointed curate of the village of Olney, where he and William Cowper produced their collection Olney Hymns in 1779. The tune (a typically pentatonic shape-note melody) first appeared in an American collection of 1829, Columbian Harmony, and by 1835 was associated with Newton’s text to which it has been wedded ever since.
from notes by Collegium Records © 2000
Recordings
 Rutter: O praise the Lord of heavenCSCD522Download only  Here is some music of rejoicing and reflection which John Rutter wrote for a variety of choirs and occasions, as, for example, the earliest piece 'The Falcon', which was written in 1969 for the choir and orchestra of the Cambridge University Music ...» More |
 Sing, ye Heavens - Hymns for all timeCOLCD126Download only An inspiring album of 21 hymns spanning fifteen centuries of the history of Christian Europe, including the world premiere of a new hymn by John Rutter himself, Eternal God.» More |
Details
