Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Friday, May 19, 2023

"Just a Closer Walk with Thee"

When I was practicing "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" from James Bastien's Great Hymns Arranged for Organ a few months ago, I noticed a small feature to write about.

Only the first verse and refrain are given in the book, and the second line of the verse is "Jesus, keep me from all wrong," sung to this musical phrase:


(According to hymnary.com, the name of the tune is "Closer Walk."  In Bastien's arrangement, the note values are doubled compared with all of the versions on hymnary.com.)

"Wrong" is sung with a melisma (A G), musically giving something of a sense of the entirety of "all."