He served as curate in the village of Olney, where his parishioners were largely impoverished and uneducated. Newton was a clergyman in the Church of England. The story of “Amazing Grace” begins with John Newton, who wrote six verses- some familiar from modern usage, some not-in 1772. Source: Wikimedia Commons Attribution: John Moffat License: Public Domain : This engraving of John Newton by John Moffat was published around 1788. People who know this hymn are more likely to identify it with one of its great interpreters, such as Aretha Franklin, whose version we will encounter below. Indeed, those are not easy questions to answer-the text, although initially written by John Newton (1725-1807), was later expanded by an anonymous author, while people still debate the identity of the tune’s composer. Bach, but people sing “Amazing Grace” every day without knowing who penned the words or music. No-one has ever performed Sleepers, Wake without being aware that it was composed by J.S. This stylistic flexibility is typical of music in the vernacular tradition, which permits the reinterpretation and transformation of musical compositions by individual performers. In fact, the only element of “Amazing Grace” to remain consistent throughout its lifetime has been the words, although all of the versions under consideration here also use the same melody-that which will be familiar to those who know the hymn. Next, however, we will examine an example of Christian worship music that has changed dramatically as it has been adopted and adapted by different religious communities. These are all characteristics of the classical tradition, in which the composer exercises a great deal of control over the musical work. They will certainly contain all of the same pitches and rhythms, and will be similar in length. Two recordings of Sleepers, Wake, for example, might differ slightly in terms of tempo or timbre, but they will sound essentially the same. So far, we have examined compositions for use in Christian worship that are fixed in terms of their musical details.
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