It’s been a different tune every day this week. Friday’s came straight out of current events at the office, with the phrase “say farewell” and the word “title” in morning emails, so I had “Saint’s Delight” (114) mixed with a little “Primrose Hill” (43) on my mind. (There are actually five Sacred Harp tunes sharing this Isaac Watts text; “Ninety-fifth” [36b] has a nice little fugue.)
When I can read my title clear / To mansions in the skies / I’ll bid farewell to every fear / And wipe my weeping eyes.
“Saint’s Delight” is one of those rousing minor tunes that charges off towards death with glee. “I feel like, I feel like I’m on my journey home.”
(I tried to find a decent version on YouTube but they are all crummy, either badly sung or badly recorded.)
