This anthem by the American organist and composer Gerald Near (b. 1942) was published in 1973. The tune is based on the Scottish folk song "O Waly, Waly," today best known as "The Water Is Wide." The words are from a hymn by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), a Nonconformist minister and prolific hymnodist whose many well-known works include the words to the carol "Joy to the World" and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past." Watts's original verses ("We are a garden walled around / Chosen and made peculiar ground; / A little spot enclosed by grace / Out of the world’s wide wilderness") were adapted in the late 19th century by Robert Bridges - physician, future poet laureate of the UK and a selfless champion of the work of his friend Gerard Manley Hopkins, whom he knew to be a much better poet.
lovely!
This anthem by the American organist and composer Gerald Near (b. 1942) was published in 1973. The tune is based on the Scottish folk song "O Waly, Waly," today best known as "The Water Is Wide." The words are from a hymn by Isaac Watts (1674-1748), a Nonconformist minister and prolific hymnodist whose many well-known works include the words to the carol "Joy to the World" and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past."
Watts's original verses ("We are a garden walled around / Chosen and made peculiar ground; / A little spot enclosed by grace / Out of the world’s wide wilderness") were adapted in the late 19th century by Robert Bridges - physician, future poet laureate of the UK and a selfless champion of the work of his friend Gerard Manley Hopkins, whom he knew to be a much better poet.
An outstanding song. Episcopal Church Choir from Charlotte, NC sang this song at National Cathedral this morning 7/16/2023