Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden

Subject: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 10:39 AM

I'm in the throes of pulling together another concert season for my chorus and came across this lovely song.. Moira Smiley calls it "Garden Hymn" and cites it as being from "anon Shape Note hymnals- adapted by various singers" .

Now, I could certainly buy this lovely arrangement, but it would be more in the spirit of Animaterra to find the original hymn and transcribe it myself.

But- it seems fairly certain that Moira Smiley's first verse, opening with "May all into this garden come" is not the first verse of the original shape note hymn. So, any search in my (several) shape note hymn books Indices of First Lines comes up empty. Yes, I will go through each book page by page and look over all the verses to see if I can find the original that way, but I thought maybe I could save myself some time and have an interesting discussion with Mudcatters to boot.

So: does anyone know the origin of this hymn, and where it can be found?

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: maeve
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 10:59 AM

Allison, try looking here- 64 Nashville, by Alexander Johnson, 1821.
http://shapenote.net/64.htm#LYRICS You'll need to download a plugin- I had no trouble following the prompts. There is also a link to a revision by Cooper called 64 Refreshing Showers.

The Lord into His garden comes,
The spices yield their rich perfumes,
The spices yeild their rich perfumes,
The lilies grow and thrive;
Refreshing show'rs of grace divine
From Jesus flow to ev'ry vine,
From Jesus flow to ev'ry vine,
Which makes the dead revive.

O that this dry and barren ground
In springs of water may abound,
In springs of water may abound,
A fruitful soil become;
The desert blossoms as the rose,
While Jesus conquers all His foes,
While Jesus conquers all His foes,
And makes His people one.

Come, brethren, ye that love the Lord,
Who taste the sweetness of His word,
Who taste the sweetness of His word,
In Jesus' ways go on.
Our troubles and our trials here
Will only make us richer there,
Will only make us richer there,
When we arrive at home.

The glorious time is rolling on,
The gracious work is now begun,
The gracious work is now begun,
My soul a witness is;
I taste and see the pardon free
For all mankind, as well as me,
For all mankind, as well as me,
Who come to Christ may live.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: maeve
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:03 AM

I should have said the lyrics and link are listed as being from the 1991 Denson Revision.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: maeve
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:08 AM

One more link- From Sacred Harp Singing, credits for both tune and words

http://fasola.org/indexes/1991/?p=64
64 Nashville

Tune: Alexander Johnson, 1821
Words: J. Leavitte, Christian Lyre, 1830
Meter: Common Particular Meter (8,8,6,8,8,6)

(Words are the same as above, except that yield is spelled correctly and "O" is "Oh".)

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:24 AM

Those are great resources, maeve! My computer won't let me do the plug-in, but I did find the hymn in my Sacred Harp, #64, Nashville. Looks like Moira Smiley took a few liberties, but I've been perusing my Sacred Harp this morning and have found quite a few possibilities. Thanks for your research!

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: maeve
Date: 03 Jan 13 - 11:30 AM

Mt pleasure, Allison. Let me know if you'd like me to mail the copy I just printed out.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,squeaky
Date: 04 Jan 13 - 10:36 PM

Allison, in your _Sacred Harp_ (1991 Denson edition), try 284 Garden Hymn, a tune from Ananias Davisson's _Supplement to the Kentucky Harmony_ of 1826. Moira Smiley's two-part version uses the tenor (tune) and treble lines -- and sounds beautiful. You can hear a number of recordings from Sacred Harp conventions at bostonsing.org, and the Denson book is indexed word by word and by title at fasola.org. Both this tune and 64 Nashville set the same hymn from an 1803 collection, and as you note, Smiley has altered the words considerably.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 Jan 13 - 09:47 AM

Not that you need it, but for the curious (like me), here's a link to a YouTube video of this song being sung in the traditional style in Wisconsin.

plum creek

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: Artful Codger
Date: 05 Jan 13 - 03:13 PM

A PDF score for the tune, from the Kentucky Harmony supplement, can be found here under the title Baltimore (#53):
http://www.shapenote.net/berkley/SKyH3.htm [PDF]
The text is different ("Lord, I am vile! What shall I say?"— Isaac Watts). A PDF of the entire set of scans for the Supplement may be found at BostonSing.org:
http://www.bostonsing.org/music/suppl-kt-harmony/

Tim Eriksen YouTube clip (solo voice and fiddle):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JMCaKufxoY

The first marriage of the text and tune that I've found is in The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (William Walker, 1835), "Garden Hymn", p. 90. Several full copies of this book are available online (for example, here), including a downloadable PDF at Google Books. Eriksen's clip notes mention some longer clip that also talks of his discovering an 1836 shape-note book, but I haven't seen the longer clip, so I don't know if that book is directly related to this song. If so, I suspect it was Walker's Southern Harmony.

Is the Nashville tune the same one we're discussing, (i.e., the tune sung by Smiley/Swearingen), or is it a different tune set to the same text? I can only view the lyrics. Fasola.org credits the words to J. Leavitte, Christian Lyre, 1830; but while this may be their cited source, I've found the text published as early as 1820 (The Providence selection of hymns: supplementary to Dr. Watts, p. 185, Hymn 228, 4 verses), and a nine-verse version, labelled "Pentecost Hymn" was one of two hymns printed at the end of Meditations Among the Tombs, by James Hervey in the "new edition" of 1824. The book itself had been published at least by 1794, though I don't know if the hymns were included in it originally. I also don't know whether Hervey wrote the hymn texts, but the fewness of them suggests he did (as well as others; the section heading is "Selected Hymns"). All the earliest hymn collections give no author or state "anonymous".

In addition to Hervey's nine verses, one version adds this final stanza, which is also found in some shorter versions:

10. There on that peaceful happy shore,
We'll sing and shout our suffering o'er,
   In sweet redeeming love.
We'll shout and praise our conq'ring king
Who died himself that he might bring
   Us rebels home to God.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,squeaky
Date: 06 Jan 13 - 01:15 AM

NASHVILLE (64 in SH) is a different tune. Bostonsing.org will have recordings of both. (We sang GARDEN HYMN today at the Lower East Side SAcred Harp singing in New York.)

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 17 Jan 13 - 12:49 PM

GUEST, Squeaky (Who ARE you? How do you know which Sacred Harp ed. I have???I mean, that is the one I have, so I am curious!) In my 1991 edition, 284 is "My span of life will soon be gone"- nothing very gardeny-y about it!
I'm pulling together a chorus season and have never had this much trouble finding songs. I hope to settle on one or another of y'all's sugestions- thanks!

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,squeaky
Date: 19 Jan 13 - 12:08 AM

If you have the 1991 Denson edition, 284 is GARDEN HYMN. I am as sure of it as that my name is Squeaky. In any case this is the song Moira Smiley sang. Follow the Artful Codger's link to the three-part Southern Harmony version and you will see.

Sacred Harp singers have been using the Denson 1991 edition since, well, 1991, and the book hasn't yet been revised, so I know it well. I don't know if GARDEN HYMN has ever been on a different page of the SH, though. Here is a recording from a recent Sacred Harp singing, last year's convention in Cork, Ireland.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Jan 13 - 11:13 AM

Hello, Alison. I'm interested in the shape-note hymns, so I did a little searching. I found this site:


garden

which has lyrics and a MIDI on the same page.

Do you have MIDI software, such as Noteworthy? You should be able to download it and type in the lyrics for your choir.

It's a beautiful song.

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 19 Jan 13 - 01:07 PM

leeneia, have just followed your blue clicky and listened to the Plum Creek version. I have to say I've got tears in my eyes, it was so very beautiful. It did remind me of the unaccompanied psalm singing in the Hebridean Isles, the Gallic Mass. Thank you so much for posting it, I'm just about to play it again! (and again...)

Subject: RE: Origins: Seeking orig. Shape Note hymn re garden
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Jan 13 - 10:17 PM

You're very welcome, Eliza. I'm happy to hear how much you enjoy it.