While on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Berlin Germany, I learned to love the German people. One of their hymns, “Heilig ist der Herr,” (literally “Holy is the Lord” in English) struck me with the profound reverence the music conveyed. Returning home, I often played it as a prelude on the organ, but longed to be able to express its meaning to the English-speaking congregation. This piece represents my attempt to adapt it to English. Franz Shubert composed the original hymn as part of his “Deutchen Messe” and Phillip Neumann supplied the German lyrics. These lyrics I have loosely translated into English and supplemented with some of my own, hopefully in the same spirit as the original. The resulting hymn text won an Award of Merit at the 2023 Church Music Submission Awards for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints. Many thanks to my friend Nancy Potter, a fellow lover of the German people, for her encouragement and friendship.
Featured, SATB Choral Arrangements
6 | 27 | Created on August 20, 2025 | Last updated on September 2, 2025
Leave a Reply