Out of the Depths I Cry to You on High

Performance Notes:

• The following article is by Marilyn G. Mulder, from Reformed Worship.

Psalm 130 is very appropriate to the season of Lent, especially for a service of confession, when we acknowledge how great our sins are and how in need we are of the mercy of the Lord. Actually, the text, especially stanza 2, also serves well during Advent, when the emphasis is on watching and waiting for the coming redemption of the Lord.

The text in the Psalter Hymnal, versified by Robert Swets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, follows the biblical text very closely. Swets chose to work without rhyme in order to make the text as concise as possible; the whole psalm is covered in two stanzas.

The tune from the Genevan Psalter has been associated with this text since the early days of the Reformation (1539). The combination of text and tune bears a striking resemblance in mood to Luther's text and tune for Psalm 130: "Aus defer not." Both melodies begin with a falling fifth, and are somber in character. Rejoice in the Lord (#97) includes this Genevan melody set to Psalm 32, "How Blest Are They Whose Trespass"; the rhythm has been altered in a few places.

The harmony is adapted from Claude Goudimel's complete four-part settings (1564) of all the Genevan Psalter tunes. Since in those days the Reformed churches sang only in unison, these settings were intended for home use. Goudimel's original, like most harmonies of the time, placed the melody in the tenor.

The organist may want to introduce the tune of this psalm to the congregation by playing the tenor melody in the left hand on a solo stop. John Hamersma has composed four variations on Psalm 130, available in The Composers' Workshop Series II, Calvin College Department of Music, Grand Rapids, MI 49506.

Once the tune is relatively familiar, the choir should introduce the words. The psalm serves well as a call to confession (both stanzas) or as a combination call to confession (stanza 1) and assurance of forgiveness (stanza 2).

After both words and tune have been introduced, invite the congregation to join the choir, singing the psalm in unison (at least for the first few times). A somber sound for the first stanza should be followed by a brighter and fuller sound on the second.

• The following article is from the Psalter Hymnal Handbook.

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st.1 = Ps. 130:1-4
st.2 = Ps. 130:5-6

Psalm 130, from which this hymn derives, is one of the traditional penitential psalms. The versification (altered) is from the 1912 Psalter.

Liturgical Use:
Advent; Lent; service of confession and forgiveness; other occasions of penitence.

Tune Information:

Charles H. Purday (b. Folkestone, Kent, England, 1799; d. Kensington, London, England, 1885) composed SANDON for John Henry Newman's text "Lead, Kindly Light, amid the Encircling Gloom." Other hymnals use the tune for John D. S. Campbell's paraphrase of Psalm 121, "Unto the Hills Around Do I Lift Up," a setting much loved in Canada.

Respected and loved by many, SANDON is a bar-form tune (AABC) with a fine sense of climax in its fourth line. Try antiphonal singing on stanzas 1 and 2, and ask everyone to join in on stanza 3.

A publisher, composer, lecturer, and writer, Purday had a special interest in church music. He published Crown Court Psalmody (1854), Church and Home Metrical Psalter and Hymnal (1860), which included SANDON, and, with Frances Havergal, Songs of Peace and Joy (1879). A precentor in the Scottish Church in Crown Court, London, Purday sang at the coronation of Queen Victoria. In the publishing field he is known as a strong proponent of better copyright laws to protect the works of authors and publishers.

 Other Resources:

• Visit hymnary.org for more information on this song and additional resources.
• The following are alternative accompaniments for this tune, SANDON

Alternative Harmonization for Organ and Descant Resources:

• Rawsthorne, Noel. More Last Verses. Kevin Mayhew [1996]