Why Stand So Far Away, My God

• The following article is from the Psalter Hymnal Handbook.

Tune Information:

MORNING SONG is a folk tune that has some resemblance to the traditional English tune for "Old King Cole." The tune appeared anonymously in Part II of John Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music (1813). In 1816 it was credited to "Mr. Dean," which some scholars believe was a misprinted reference to Elkanah K. Dare, a composer who contributed more than a dozen tunes to Wyeth's Repository. In the original harmonization the melody was in the tenor. The tune is also known as CONSOLATION (and KENTUCKY HARMONY), its title in Ananias Davisson's Kentucky Harmony (1816), where it was set to Isaac Watts' morning song, "Once More, My Soul, the Rising Day."

Jack Grotenhuis composed the harmonization in Tempe, Arizona, in late November 1983 (a few weeks before his death). The Episcopal Hymnal 1982 provides two additional settings. The tune requires a sense of two long phrases rather than four short ones.

Other Resources:

• Visit hymnary.org for more information on this song and additional resources.