''Creation'' is a
hymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...
composed by
William Billings
William Billings (October 7, 1746 – September 26, 1800) is regarded as the first American choral composer and leading member of the First New England School.
Life
William Billings was born in Boston, Massachusetts. At the age of 14, t ...
.
History
Billings included ''Creation'' in his final collection, ''The Continental Harmony'' (published in 1794). The words are by
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...
: the first stanza is from
Psalm 139
Psalm 139 is the 139th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me". In Latin, it is known as "Domine probasti me et cognovisti me". The psalm is a hymn psalm. Attribu ...
and the second from hymn 19, book 2, of his ''Hymns''. In 2002, historian of science Edward B. Davis (co-editor of ''The Works of Robert Boyle'') discovered that Watts based the second stanza on a meditation by the famous chemist
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...
. In that text, from ''Occasional Reflections Upon Several Subjects'' (1665), Boyle reflected on an illness from which he had recovered, noting the great complexity of the human body and the wonder of how it all stays so well for so many years.
[Edward B. Davis, "Robert Boyle as the Source of an Isaac Watts Text set for a William Billings Anthem," ''The Hymn: A Journal of Congregational Song'', 53 (2002), 46-7]
Words
See also
*
Africa (William Billings)
"Africa" is an 18th-century hymn tune by American choral composer William Billings, who worked in New England.
History
Billings wrote "Africa" some time before 1770 and included it in his first published hymnbook, ''The New England Psalm Singer'' ...
, hymn tune with music score
*
Chester (song)
"Chester" is a patriotic anthem composed by William Billings and sung during the American Revolutionary War. Billings wrote the first version of the song for his 1770 songbook ''The New England Psalm Singer'', and made improvements for the version ...
, an
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
anthem
References
External links
Free PDF of the music, as well as a MIDI filePerformance of the song by His Majestie's Clerkes on amazon.com
{{Authority control
Hymn tunes
1794 compositions
Compositions by William Billings