Sheet Music: The Vesper Hymn

TitleThe Vesper Hymn
Alternate titlesHark! The Vesper Hymn is Stealing
ComposerTraditional
InstrumentationFlute trio
KeyF major
RangeD4–C6
Time signature4/4
Tempo88 BPM
Performance time1:30
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (63 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (714 kB)
Play-along accompanimentMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (759 kB)
Date added2022-01-10
Last updated2022-01-10
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 0.6 (below average)
Categories
Christian music, Hymn tunes, Traditional/Folk

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Monday 10 January 2022

Tune of the Day: The Vesper Hymn

arranged for three flutes

This tune first appeared in John A. Stevenson's Selection of Popular National Airs (1818) as a setting for Thomas Moore's “Hark! The Vesper Hymn is Stealing”. A footnote in that hymnal explained that Stevenson had added what is now the first line of the retrain to a “Russian Air”. Some later hymnals attributed the tune to Russian-Ukrainian composer Dimitri Bortniansky, but no tune resembling this one has been found in his published works. For that reason, Stevenson is sometimes recognized as the composer of the tune.

The present arrangement for three flutes is taken from Blake's Young Flutist's Magazine, published in 1833.