Old 100th

For short story byBrian Aldiss,seeOld Hundredth (short story).

For the place, seeOld Hundred, North Carolina.

Old 100th
byLouis Bourgeois
Genre	Hymn
Written	1551
Meter	8.8.8.8(L.M.)

"Old 100th"or"Old Hundredth"(also known as"Old Hundred") is ahymn tuneinlong metre,from the second edition of theGenevan Psalter.It is one of the best known melodies in many occidentalChristianmusical traditions. The tune is usually attributed to the French composerLouis Bourgeois(c. 1510–c.1560).

Although the tune was first associated withPsalm 134in theGenevan Psalter,the melody receives its current name from an association with the100thPsalm,in a translation byWilliam Ketheentitled "All People that on Earth do Dwell". The melody is also sung to various other lyrics, including theCommon Doxologyand various German Lutheran chorales. In that latter respect it was used byJohann Sebastian Bachas acantus firmusin his chorale cantataHerr Gott, dich loben alle wir(BWV 130).

Background

TheGenevan Psalterwas compiled over a number of years in theSwisscity ofGeneva,a center ofProtestantactivity during theReformation,in response to the teaching ofJohn Calvinthat communal singing ofpsalmsin thevernacularlanguage is a foundational aspect of church life.This contrasted with the prevailing Catholic practice at the time in which sacred texts werechantedinLatinby the clergy only.Calvinist musicians including Bourgeois supplied many new melodies and adapted others from sources both sacred and secular. The final version of this psalter was completed in 1562.Calvin intended the melodies to be sung inplainsongduring church services, but harmonized versions were provided for singing at home.

Lyrics

The original lyrics set to this tune in the Genevan Psalter are a paraphrase of Psalm 134:

Or, in English translation:

You faithful servants of the Lord,
sing out his praise with one accord,
while serving him with all your might
and keeping vigil through the night.

Unto his house lift up your hand
and to the Lord your praises send.
May God who made the earth and sky
bestow his blessings from on high.

The Old Hundredth metrical setting from a 1628 printing of the Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter.

Old 100th is commonly used to sing the lyrics that begin "All People That on Earth Do Dwell,"Psalm 100,a version that originated in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561) and is attributed to the Scottish clergymanWilliam Kethe.Kethe was in exile atGenevaat this time, as theScottish Reformationwas only just beginning. The first verse is as follows:

All people that on earth do dwell,
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell;
Come ye before Him and rejoice.

This version was sung at thecoronation of Queen Elizabeth IIin 1953, with harmonization and arrangement by the composerRalph Vaughan Williams.

A hymn commonly sung to Old 100th is "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow," using the text often referred to as theDoxology,written in 1674 byThomas Ken,a bishop in theChurch of England.This hymn was originally the final verse of a longer hymn entitled "Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun,"though it is most commonly sung by itself as adoxology.The traditional text is:

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Modernized versions of that text are also widely used. The melody can be used for any hymn text inlong meter,that is, with four lines of eight syllables iniambic feet.The hymnFrom all that dwell below the skies,a paraphrasing ofPsalm 117byIsaac Wattswith the Doxology as the final verse, is commonly sung to the tune.In theSacred Harpand othershape notesinging traditions, the tune is sung with the text "O Come, Loud Anthems Let Us Sing," a metrical paraphrase ofPsalm 95fromTate and Brady'sA New Version of the Psalms of David.The popularHawaiianversionHoʻonani i ka Makua mauwas translated byHiram Bingham Iand is published in hymnals.

Tune

The tune first appeared in the Genevan Psalter, coupled with French metrical text for Psalm 134. Over the years, the tune was sometimes rhythmically modified. Below it is as set by Johann Sebastian Bach in the final movement of his cantataHerr Gott, dich loben alle wir(BWV 130).

In other works

• Voluntary on the Old Hundredth– also calledThe 100th Psalm tune. Set as a Lesson.This is an organ piece using the psalm tune as a theme, not unlike achorale prelude,and was meant for church use. Authorship is somewhat dubious, the piece was either written byJohn Blowor his studentHenry Purcell.
• "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir", a hymn in twelve stanzas byPaul EberafterPhilipp Melanchthon's "Dicimus grates tibi",forMichaelmas,is sung to the same tune (ZahnNo. 368).Johann Sebastian Bachharmonized this hymn in thechorale cantataBWV 130,and in thefour-part choralesBWV 326 and BWV 327.
• Hubert Parry–Three Chorale Fantasiasis based on the Old 100th.
• Virgil Thomson– quoted in several movements of his score forThe Plow that Broke the Plains(1936).
• Paul Hindemith– quoted in hisTrauermusik(January 1936).
• Benjamin Britten– 1948 cantataSt Nicolas
• David Maslanka– Symphony No. 4
• Frank Ticheli– Angels in the Architecture
• Felix Mendelssohn– Piano Trio in C minor Op 66, 4th movement Finale
• Ralph Vaughan Williams– The Old 100th Psalm Tune ( "All people that on earth do dwell" ) – originally composed for the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; with a brass fanfare and borrowing afauxbourdonsetting byJohn Dowland.
• The 1893 song "The Volunteer Organist"byGeorge Spauldingfeatures the Old Hundredth in its refrain - it is played by the piano and is harmonised to an original vocal melody.
• InThe Adventures of Tom SawyerbyMark Twain,the congregation sings "Old Hundredth" (called "Old Hundred" here) to celebrate the reappearance ofTom Sawyer,Huck Finnand Joe Harper at the funeral service being held for them after they had gone missing and were presumed dead.
• Patrick O'Brianmakes frequent reference to it in hisAubrey–Maturin seriesof historical fiction novels, as being one of the traditional hymns sung by the sailors on Sundays.

"Old Hundred" was the first work transmitted by telephone during Graham Bell first demo at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston, May 10, 1876).

See also

• Metrical psalter
• Psalm 100

External links

• Old 100th (setting by Vaughan Williams):Scores at theInternational Music Score Library Project