Our blest Redeemer, ere he breathed

Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed. Harriet Auber* (1773-1862). From The Spirit of the Psalms: or, a compressed version of selected portions of the Psalms of David, adapted to Christian worship (1829), where it is found among the hymns that follow the psalms. It was the first of two hymns for Whitsunday. It became widely known after its inclusion in the First Edition of A&M, where it is found among the ‘General Hymns’. It was set in A&M to ST CUTHBERT, by John Bacchus Dykes*, for the metre 8.6.8.4., with which it has since appeared in countless books. Dykes’sensitivity to the words that he was setting is wonderfully shown in this tune, which he must have loved, for he gave it the...