Extract from the Companion to Rejoice & Sing note on the hymn by Donald Swann and Arthur Scholey in their cantata The Song of Caedmon.
RS 46 "O praise him! O praise him!" -- Arthur Scholey (1932- )
The song of Caedmon -- Donald Swann (1923-94)"In the monastery of Whitby there lived a brother whom God's grace made remarkable. So skilful was he in composing religious and devotional songs, that he could quickly turn whatever passages of Scripture were explained to him into delightful and moving poetry in his own English tongue.
On one occasion he . . . went out to the stable, where it was his duty to look after the beasts at night. He lay dowwn and fell asleep, and in a dream he saw a man standing beside him who called him by name. `Caedmon', he said, `sing me a song'. . . . `What should I sing about?' he replied. `Sing about the creation of all things', the other answered. And Caedmon immediately began to sing . . . `Let us praise the Maker of the kingdom of heaven, the power and purpose of our Creator, and the acts of the Father of glory . . . '. . . . When Caedmon awoke, he remembered everything that he had sung in his dream, and soon added more verses in the same style to the glory of God."
(from The Venerable Bede: A History of the English Church and People;translated by Leo Sherley-Price, Penguin Classics, 1955)
This is part of the Venerable Bede's account (History of the English Church and People, IV.24; completed in A.D.731) of the life and musical skills of Caedmon, a lay brother in the Abbey at Whitby. Arthur Scholey and Donald Swann collaborated in writing a Cantata, `The Song of Caedmon', which retells Bede's story. It was published in 1971, and this song was reprinted a number of times with different arrangements of the accompaniment for various combinations of instruments (New Orbit, 1972; Come & Praise, BBC 1978). `O praise him' is the title-song, with which the cantata comes to a triumphant close; its melody, which occurs at various points in the cantata, represents the pealing of the Abbey bells.
Its exuberant cheerfulness exactly matches the unsophisticated glee of Bede's cameo portrait of Caedmon the singer and poet; and the hymn should be sung with the same unpremeditated joy. (The last line of minims, taken at a gentle one-in-a-bar, is the clue to an effective singing pace; the words of the verses will then pour out with the impromptu abandon that Caedmon is said to have shown - though it has to be admitted that Donald Swann's metronome mark and original accompaniment do not really allow the treatment that his melody deserves.) The arrangement in Rejoice & Sing is taken from that in Partners in Praise 1979.
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(The Rejoice & Sing Enchiridion:edited by David Goodall; last amended 12/3/03)