?The King of Love My Shepherd Is? is a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 23, written by the Anglican cleric and hymn-writer Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877) for the second edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1868), of which he was editor as well as contributor. Baker's hymn has been described as perhaps the most beautiful of the many versions of the beloved psalm, and it has been said that the author's own last words before dying were the third stanza:

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

Originally, the hymn was paired with the tune DOMINUS REGIT ME, written by Baker's friend John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876) specifically for Baker's text. Later, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) sought to republish the hymn in The English Hymnal (1906), of which he was editor, and was denied the right to use Dykes's tune. He then paired Baker?s text with his own arrangement of an Irish traditional air, ST. COLUMBA.

It is on ST. COLUMBA that this arrangement for brass quintet is based. Following a short introduction, the tune is presented three times: first, by trumpets in a modal melodic/harmonic fashion; next, by low brass trio evoking Vaughan Williams' familiar harmonization; and finally, in a broad, full presentation by the entire ensemble, followed by a quiet, peaceful ending.

�2019 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com

?Were You There? is a nineteenth-century African-American spiritual that likely predates the American Civil War, and may have roots in a folk hymn known in Tennessee as ?Have You Heard How They Crucified MyLord?? It was first published in William Eleazar Barton's 1899 Old Plantation Hymns; and in 1940, it was included in the hymnal of the Episcopal Church with harmonization by C. Winfred Douglas, making it the first spiritual to be included in any major American hymnal. This arrangement evokes the call-and-response tradition of the spiritual, and features solo trumpet answered by low brass in the introduction and first stanza, solo trombone/low brass trio in the second stanza, and full ensemble in the final stanza. Although appropriate for use throughout the year, it is particularly fitting for performance on Good Friday, Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) and Easter sunrise services. This intermediate-level arrangement is suitable for ensembles from high school to community and professional musicians. �Copyright 2015 Todd Marchand / ConSpiritoMusic.com