Please give today to support Hymnary.org during one of only two fund drives we run each year. Each month, Hymnary serves more than 1 million users from around the globe, thanks to the generous support of people like you, and we are so grateful.
Tax-deductible donations can be made securely online using this link.
Alternatively, you may write a check to CCEL and mail it to:
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 3201 Burton SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
Comments
Should I have asked this
Should I have asked this question differently?
No, you asked it well
My guess is that the reason there has been no response is that no one has any more information than is in the database. Given that its first appearance in the database is in 1940, in the Broadman Hymnal, I think it not imlausible that it may be a folk attribution sort of like ascribing "Away in a Manger" to Martin Luther, or taking Lowell Mason's word for it that he got ANTIOCH from Handel. I also note that most of the the hymnals that have a high standard of scholarly backing to their attributions say "Arr[anged] from" Mendelssohn rather than "[Composed] by" him, it may be that the they had found something in Mendelssohn that might possibly have led to this tune. I also note the additional attribution in the Hymns of the Saints (1982) to William H. Callcott. If you are still really worried about this particular attribution, and have not yet tried this, you might do well to look through Callcott's published arrangements, as he may have specified his precise source. After all of this, if you still have not located a specific source in Mendelssohn, I would suggest crediting it as "Attr[ibuted] to" Mendelssohn, as this does appear to be the overwhelming consensus among past hymnal compilers, even though you can't find the original autograph to corroborate their assertion.
As another person who plans to publish hymnals in the future, and who actively collects hymnals, I'd be interested to know details of your plans, and to be notified when they come to fruition. And I thank you for indirectly bringing Callcott to my attention, since his ELIM which I glanced at more or less by chance, is a tune I may have a use for in my forthcoming tunebooks. Or even two uses for it in two separate tunebooks.
Thanks.
Thanks.
I will take a look into that.
The source has been
The source has been discovered.
The help is very much appriciated.
And the answer is?
Or is a sworn secret?
Answer
It starts at 1:15 and ends at 1:36
https://youtu.be/OJX-AOcMBGg
Thanks!
That helps.