St. Michael-The French composer Louis Bourgeois lived from c.1510 to 1560. Bourgeois was cantor in Geneva and commissioned by John Calvin he composed melodies for metrical (rhyming) versions of the psalms. After completing about a hundred one-part psalms he made some four-part arrangements which were denounced and even resulted in his imprisonment for a day. Later Bourgeois published a number of psalm collections and judging from his book Le droict chemin de musique he was also an excellent educator. The melodies Bourgeois composed are (contrary to Gregorian chants) particularly suitable for community singing. This applies to his hymn tune Saint Michael which is why this melody hasbeen used for various texts written for many occasions. John Blanken made this arrangement for a wedding ceremony: an occasion in which faith and trust play a large - if not the largest - role. Hence the title Hymn of Faith. The arrangement contains four verses of the hymn. After a majestic opening the hymn follows twice the second verse being embellished in the tenor register. After a short interlude verse three follows played by a quartet. The majestic opening is then repeated as a modulation into the fourth verse which concludes the work in a brilliant tutti.

L?hymne Old Hundredth est une des plus célèbres hymnes chrétiennes de tous les temps. Elle fut publiée pour la première fois en 1551 dans le psautier de Genève Pseaumes octante-trois de David avec accompagnement du Psaume 134. La mélodie est fréquemment attribuée au compositeur français Louis Bourgeois (vers 1510-vers 1560).En 1561 William Kethe un pasteur écossais reprend la mélodie pour réaliser une paraphrase du Psaume 100 All People that on Earth do Dwell (Vous tous habitants de la terre !) qui sera publiée dans le Psautier de Sternhold et Hopkins. Cette paraphrase reste le texte le plus chanté sur la mélodie de Bourgeois. En 1696 Nahum Tate et Nicholas Brady réalisent une Nouvelle Version des Psaumes de David (New Version of the Psalms). Par opposition à la version révisée de la mélodie la version initiale prend alors le nom de Old Hundredth autrement dit « l?ancienne version du Psaume 100 ».