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MormonTimes.com: Original 'Poor Wayfaring Man' had different tune

Fascinating!

That is fascinating. I hope the Church incorporates this new melody when it makes films and videos about the martyrdom.
For lack of a better place to suggest this, may I say here that I think the Deseret News and Mormon Times ought to be reporting on the legalization of gay marriage by the Connecticut Supreme Court. That is a matter of high concern for members of the LDS Church.

Always happy to hear a new tune and be given a copy to boot! So "THANX" is in order! Actually it is pretty similar to the one we know and sing. And that is fine. I love the hymns and knowing how they came to be, and really love - in ANY language - to lead them before congregations of saints. Wonder if we could try this in our Spanish Branch -- would anyone notice a difference? Hmmm...

That's amazing. I like the new tune, it's a little less stylized than the one I grew up with. I prefer the newer one, it's one of my very favorite hymns, but I do like the old as well. I think that they should publish it in future hymnals. One or two of the other hymns have more than melody to them, and this should be as well.

Interesting. I have wondered for years, though, if anybody knows the original melody to "The Spirit of God" as sung at the Kirkland Temple dedication.... (not the the current tune is not entirely inspiring)

I can't wait to play this and be transported back in time.

That is the song that teaches about our Mother in Heaven. I've always liked it.

It would have been nice to put a link to a wav file or mp3 so we could hear it. Let's be a little more forward thinking in our reporting next time.

The download has a strongly worded copyright notice on it. Is it okay to download?

I always felt there was something not right about how the hymn was presented and sung in Carthage, now I know why. Ii don't know how many times I have wished I could have joined in singing with Pres. Taylor to Hyrum and Joseph, now I can.

Thank you for publishing the music. I can't wait to hear it played although I can already hear it in my mind.

What a great story! I cant wait to hear the new melody. Well done Professor Walker. Well done.

In it's main delineations, this "original" hymn is not really all that much different from the one we are familiar with today. One can easily hear how Beesley tweaked here and there ... the meter matches ... the fundamental contours of the melodic line, though not a perfect mirror, are clearly from the same melodic DNA ... It's the harmonization that is responsible for significant differences in mood, and yet when Taylor sang at Carthage, important to remember, is the fact that he sang melody only ... no accompaniment. Those who analyze and follow folk melodies know that variations always occur. But you CAN recognize in today's tune this "newly found" melody. So this interests me, but I think it's really a subtle story about a subtle change over time. Beesley didn't fully ditch out on the "original" with his modern version. We perhaps sing it more sentimentally today than perhaps fits with a the rhythmic lilt of the PDF.

This should be a high priority/concern for all true christians world wide.The gay rights agenda and outright greed and corruption by our so-called leaders are slowly but surely laying waste to the world as we know it.

Something that is not in the current hymnal? There is a great deal of truly uplifting music that can't be used because of the restriction of everything coming out of the hymnal. I am not sure what happened to the concept of teaching people the correct principle and they will do what is correct accordingly. That would include special musical numbers in our church meetings when appropriate.

I think that's fantastic. I quite like the old melody, it's similar to the new but with a few changes. I hope that they might include it in the next edition of the hymnbook. There are at least one or two other hymns with more than one melody, so it'd be nice to have both available for this one as well.

We noted the copyright and ask what approval/fees are required to let our choir sing it.

but what most news people neglect to say is that sara didn't break any law

Hymn history has been a fascination of mine for years, so this is big news in the field. The other candidate for the original tune was one from the 'Sacred Harp', a folk hymnbook still in use that was published in the early 1840's (and was the source for Clayton's reworked hymn "All Is Well"). That tune, while in 2/4 instead of 6/8, was also closely related melodically to the familiar tune. As far as the copyright goes, only the harmonization could be copyrighted - the tune is public domain. And, not to be rude, but this harmonization is FULL of amatuerish writing - wrong voicing and voice leading, not to mention sloppy notation. I'll send you a proper setting for nothing! :)

If I read the copyright correctly, the ARRANGEMENT is copyrighted, not the tune. I am no expert, but this tune was first written down over a hundred years ago. There can be no copyright on the tune itself. If you read the copyright, it reflects this.

That legalese out of the way, I really like this tune. I never could quite understand why the Prophet would want such a melancholy tune sung when he was so down. It just didn't match what I know about Joseph Smith.

But I can definitely see where he would want this upbeat tune sung twice just before the martyrdom.

Friends,

I am certainly more of an historian then a musician. Anyone can use the arrangement as long as it is not for profit. The copyright only extends to "for profit" use. I am confident that others will arrange the tune beautifully and with much more skill than I have done. My goal was to keep it simple and not to detract from Taylor's melody.

I have prepared a lengthy paper documenting my work in uncovering Taylor's melody and placing it within a proper historical context. I understand that BYU Religious Studies will be publishing it.

Jeff Walker