Something suitable for blogging on a Sunday. “What Wondrous Love Is This” (often just referred to as “Wondrous Love”) is a folk hymn, sometimes described as a white spiritual, from the American South. Its text was first published in 1811, during the period known as the Second Great Awakening, and its melody derived from a popular English ballad ‘The Ballad of Captain Kidd’ (1701). I have included a version of the ballad for your comparison.
The hymn is sung in Dorian Mode, giving it a wonderful haunting quality. The hymn also has an unusual meter of 6-6-6-3-6-6-6-6-6-3. Samuel Barber the American composer (he of the famous Adagio) actually composed some variations on this theme – Wondrous Love: Variations on a Shape Note Hymn (Opus 34) which is worth a listen if you like organ music.
Our performer today Chelsea Moon, hails from Los Angeles, California. This track is taken from Chelsea Moon w/ the Franz Brothers album Hymn Project Vol. 2, in which they give new intrepretations to some classic hymn. You can find many of these on You Tube.
