Felice de Giardini (b. Turin, Italy, 1716; d. Moscow, Russia, 1796) composed ITALIAN HYMN in three parts for this text at the request of Selina Shirley, the famous evangelically minded Countess of Huntingdon. Giardini was living in London at the time and contributed this tune and three others to Martin Madan's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1769), published to benefit the Lock Hospital in London where Madan was chaplain.
Giardini achieved great musical fame throughout Europe, especially in England. He studied violin, harpsichord, voice, and composition in Milan and Turin; from 1748 to 1750 he conducted a very successful solo violin tour on the continent. He came to England in 1750 and for the next forty years lived in London, where he was a prominent violinist in several orchestras. Giardini also taught and composed operas and instrumental music. In 1784 he traveled to Italy, but when he returned to London in 1790, Giardini was no longer popular. His subsequent tour to Russia also failed, and he died there in poverty.
ITALIAN HYMN appears in most hymnals, sometimes with small variants when compared to the original melody, as in the Psalter Hymnal. Named for its composer's homeland, ITALIAN HYMN is also known as MOSCOW (where Giardini died) and TRINITY (after the theme of the hymn text).
This vigorous tune needs strong rhythmic accompaniment. Think one broad beat per measure. The doxological stanza can be taken more majestically.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
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