Love divine, all loves excelling – Blaenwern - Hyperion Records

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Love divine, all loves excelling – Blaenwern

First line:

Love divine, all loves excelling

composer

William Penfro Rowlands (1860-1937)

arranger

Stephen Cleobury (1948-2019)

author of text

Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

This was written as a religious parody of Dryden’s ‘Fairest isle, all isles excelling’, by Charles Wesley (1707–88), to go with Purcell’s tune from King Arthur (1691). (See the Hymn Tune Index, hymntune.library.illinois.edu, tunes 2204a–c.) It was found in many Methodist hymnals in the 18th century, and gradually came into Anglican use in the 19th and 20th. Various tunes were later used, the most popular being John Stainer’s four-liner Love divine. The present tune, Blaenwern, was composed in 1905 by William Rowlands (1860–1937), a Welsh schoolteacher, and named after a farm near Tufton, Pembrokeshire, where his son had recovered from an illness. It was used with various texts. After Billy Graham adopted it for ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’, it became, in England, one of the most popular hymn tunes. It was used with this hymn at the royal wedding in 2011 and at Margaret Thatcher’s funeral in 2013.

Sung by all voices in verse 1, shared in verse 2; the last verse starts surprisingly over a dominant pedal, and a descant enters halfway through.

Il s’agissait au départ d’une parodie religieuse de «Fairest isle, all isles excelling» de Dryden, écrite par Charles Wesley (1707-1788) pour aller avec la mélodie de Purcell dans King Arthur (1691). (Voir Hymn Tune Index, hymntune.library.illinois.edu, mélodies 2204a-c.) Elle apparaît dans nombre de recueils méthodistes du XVIIIe siècle et entra progressivement dans l’usage anglican aux XIXe et XXe siècles. On utilisa par la suite diverses mélodies, la plus populaire étant les quatre phrases de Love Divine de John Stainer. La présente mélodie, Blaenwern, fut composée en 1905 par William Rowlands (1860-1937), instituteur gallois, et emprunte son titre à une ferme près de Tufton, dans le Pembrokeshire, où son fils s’était remis d’une maladie. Elle servit avec divers textes. Après avoir été adoptée par Billy Graham pour «What a friend we have in Jesus», elle devint l’une des mélodies de cantique les plus populaires en Angleterre. Elle fut chantée sur ces paroles au mariage royal en 2011 et aux obsèques de Margaret Thatcher en 2013.

Elle est chantée par toutes les voix dans la strophe 1, et partagée dans la strophe 2; la dernière strophe commence, curieusement, sur une pédale de dominante, avec un contre-chant qui entre à mi-parcours.

extrait des notes rédigées par Nicholas Temperley © 2016
Français: Dennis Collins

Diesen Text schrieb Charles Wesley (1707–1788) als religiöse Parodie auf Drydens „Fairest isle, all isles excelling“ zu einer Melodie Purcells aus King Arthur (1691). (Siehe den Hymn Tune Index, hymntune.library. illinois.edu,tunes 2204a–c.) Im 18. Jahrhundert war das Kirchenlied in vielen methodistischen Hymnaren enthalten, im Lauf des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts erklang es dann zunehmend auch in den anglikanischen Kirchen. Später wurden verschiedene Melodien verwendet, am populärsten war John Stainers Vierzeiler Love Divine. Die vorliegende Melodie, Blaenwern, komponierte 1905 William Rowlands (1860–1937), ein Waliser Lehrer, der sie nach einer Farm in der Nähe von Tufton, Pembrokeshire, benannte, wo sein Sohn von einer Krankheit genesen war. Verschiedene Texte wurden auf sie gesungen. Nachdem Billy Graham die Weise für „What a friend we have in Jesus“ entlehnt hatte, wurde sie in England zu einer der beliebtesten Kirchenlied-Melodien überhaupt und erklang mit diesem Text zur königlichen Hochzeit 2011 sowie bei der Beisetzung Margaret Thatchers 2013.

In Strophe 1 wird sie von allen Stimmen gesungen, die in Strophe 2 geteilt sind. Die letzte Strophe beginnt überraschenderweise vor einem Dominant-Orgelpunkt, in der Mitte fällt eine Diskantstimme ein.

aus dem Begleittext von Nicholas Temperley © 2016
Deutsch: Ursula Wulfekamp

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