For the Beauty of the Earth
New musical setting by Fen Frehner for SATB and piano or harp
Text by Folliott S. PierpointBackground
In 2001, I wrote new hymn setting of the well-known text by Folliott S. Pierpoint. My main motivation was to write a melody that could shift emphasis to the significant words in the text. For the 2013 Thanksgiving season, I created a new version for SATB choir plus piano or harp accompaniment. It is not nearly as ambitious as some of my songs like “For Unto Us a Child is Born” or “Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs” and it is not intended to “compete” with John Rutter’s lovely version. The intention was to have a nice arrangement that an average amateur choir could learn in only a few rehearsals.
The 6.875"x10.5" choral booklet sheet music may be purchased above by selecting the desired quantity, clicking the "Add to Cart" button, and following the checkout process. A low-resolution version of the sheet music may be downloaded below.
If you would like to purchase the audio recording (vocals by Matthew Curtis, piano by Fen Frehner) or accompaniment used in the sheet-music video, please contact me. Excellent rehearsal tracks are available above.
Lyrics
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies,for the love which from our birth over and around us lies,Lord of all, to thee we raisethis our hymn of grateful praise.For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,hill and vale, and tree and flower, sun and moon, and stars of light,Lord of all, to thee we raisethis our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,friends on earth, and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,Lord of all, to thee we raisethis our hymn of grateful praise.
Text: Folliott S. Pierpoint