Oh Shenandoah

Oh Shenandoah is an American folk tune from the early nineteenth century. While some associate the songs with the Shenandoah region of Virginia and West Virginia, the lyrics mention the Missouri river much further west. Shenandoah was actually an Oneida Indian chief and the original lyrics likely tell the story of a fur trader in love with the chief’s daughter.

See a list of other potential traditional song themes here.

Ar Hyd y Nos


The hymn tune AR HYD Y NOS is a Welsh folk tune first recorded in Edward Jones’ Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards from 1784. Popular texts associated with the tune include “Go My Children with My Blessing,” “All Through the Night,” and “For the Fruits of This Creation.”

See a list of other hymn and chorale themes here.

Winchester New

WinchesterNew

This Long Meter tune is often ascribed to Bartholomäus Crasselius. He did publish several hymn texts but there is no evidence that he wrote any hymn tunes. The melody is an altered version of ‘Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten.’ Common English texts sung to the tune include the Advent lyrics ‘On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry’ and the Palm Sunday text ‘Ride On! Ride On in Majesty!’

See a list of other hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Liam Dekker – Improvisation ‘The Spirit, Sent From Heaven Above’

St. Stephen


Composed by William Jones (1726-1800), this tune in Common Meter has been published with numerous texts. One of the most common is “The King shall come when morning dawns” for the season of Advent. The tune is also known as NEWINGTON and first appeared in Jones’ Church Piec­es for the Or­gan with Four An­thems in Score published in 1789.

See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:Wm. Glenn Osborne – Improvised Toccata on St. Stephen – Cathedral of Mary Our Queen

Venez, Divin Messie


A 16th Century French Noël, commonly sung in English as “O Come, Divine Messiah.” The tune is also used in the Messe de Minuit pour Noël by Marc-Antoine Charpentier to set the lyrics “Laissez paître vos bestes.”

See a list of other hymn and chorale themes here.

Videos:
Pierre Cochereau (David Briggs) – Variations sur ‘Venez Divin Messie’
Eric Dalest – Improvisation on Venez Divine Messie – Aubagne, France
Jean-Jacques Grünenwald – Improvisation on Venez Divine Messie – Nimes
Laurent Chalaux – Improvisation on Venez Divine Messie – Sylvanès
Duncan Middleton – Variation on ‘Venez Divin Messie’ – Notre Dame de France

Star-Spangled Banner

StarSpangledBanner
Written by Francis Scott Key after the flag was raised over at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry to celebrate a crucial victory by U.S. forces over the British during the War of 1812, the Star-Spangled Banner eventually became the United States national anthem.

See a list of other potential traditional song themes here.

Videos:
David Enlow – Star-Spangled Banner Fugue – Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX
Pieter Leebeek – Improvisation on “The Star-Spangled banner” – Hauptwerk Sample Set of Domkerk in Utrecht

Salzburg

Salzburg
Named after the city in Austria, the hymn tune SALZBURG was first published anonymously in the nineteenth edition of Johann Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica. In the twenty-fourth edition of the book, the tune was attributed to Jakob Hintze, who contributed sixty-five tunes to the collection. The harmonization found in most hymnals was done by Johann Sebastian Bach.

See a list of other popular hymn and chorale themes here.