Gentle Shepherd, Thou hast stilled (Charles H. Giffen)

Music files

L E G E N D

Disclaimer

How to download

ICON	SOURCE
	Pdf
	Mp3
	MusicXML
	File details
	Help

• (Posted 2020-01-23)  CPDL #56732:       

Editor: Charles H. Giffen (submitted 2020-01-23).   Score information: Letter, 1 page, 70 kB   Copyright: CC BY NC SA

Edition notes: The sound file for the hymn includes string quartet & oboe accompaniment, together with a descant on the final stanza that is simply the Alto part taken up an octave.

General Information

Title: Gentle Shepherd, Thou hast stilled
Composer: Charles H. Giffen
Lyricist: Catherine Winkworth

Number of voices: 4vv   Voicing: SATB
Genre: Sacred, Hymn   Meter: 78. 78. 77

Language: English
Instruments: Organ

First published: 2019
Description: This hymn is dedicated to the memory of the composer's son, Alexander, who passed away on 25 October 2019. The tune O'Connell is named for the late Thomas P. O'Connell, founder of the O'Connell Family Funeral Home in Hudson, Wisconsin, who passed away earlier in 2019.

Original text and translations

English text

1.
Gentle Shepherd, Thou hast stilled
   Now Thy little lamb’s brief weeping;
Ah, how peaceful, pale, and mild,
   In its narrow bed ’tis sleeping,
And no sigh of anguish sore
Heaves that little bosom more.

2.
In this world of care and pain,
   Lord, Thou wouldst no longer leave it;
To the sunny, heavenly plain
   Thou dost now with joy receive it,
Clothed in robes of spotless white,
Now it dwells with Thee in light.

3.
Ah, Lord Jesus, grant that we
   Where it lives may soon be living,
And the lovely pastures see
   That its heavenly food are giving,
Then the gain of death we prove
Though Thou take what most we love.
   — translation by Catherine Winkworth, 1858
   — original German text by Johann W. Meinhold, 1835