Another praising song with Alleluias! This time they are not scattered in the verse like Hymn #62, but are the opening part of the chorus. I adore the chorus of this song! All about rejoicing through song. That always gets to my heart. And the tune of this one is fabulous--goes perfectly with the attitude of praising and joy. Generally sung on Sundays because of the reference to being in a place of worship. But often sung in General Conferences and other times we meet together as Saints. Text and music written by the same composer of Hymn #63.
From the history book
Dr. Robertson was the chairman of the General Church Music Committee. At the time, youth choruses were being encoraged, so he wrote this song for them in hopes of bringing "music of great quality to the youth of the LDS Church." What we have in our hymnal is abridge and adapted from his original anthem. Generally Brother Robertson set already written words to music, but he wanted to write the words for this as well. His daughter said, "My father always loved to set to music the Hebrew word Alleluia, probably because of its inherently beautiful sounds, its historical importance, and its meaning." And he does a wonderful job at it!
His daughter also pointed out that the three basic elements of a hymn are that it is 1) a song 2) of praise 3) to the Lord. And this song is all 3.
Here is another video with the song sung a little more reflective than general, which is not only beautiful because of that, but because it is our BYU choir men. *Sigh* Anything sounds better with men who can sing singing it! :-) PLUS! I believe this was one of Dr. Staheli's last performances as a conductor before he retired. I miss singing under his leadership.
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