"For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.
Lord of all to Thee we raise,
this our hymn of grateful praise."
Last verse and refrain from the hymn, "For the Beauty of the Earth,"
written in 1864 by a man with quite the name: Folliott S. Pierpoint.
He was all of 29 years old when he wrote these words and was said to be
mesmerized by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded him.
That pretty much describes my response to the sight of these pink
blooms suddenly appearing, hanging over an alleyway while I
took a walk around my daughter's neighborhood in the Los Angeles suburb of Monrovia, CA last week.
John Rutter's glorious setting of these words (well, almost - he uses the alternate wording of 'joyful praise' for the last line of the refrain) is one of my very favorite choral pieces ever. Enjoy this rendition, sung by the choir of a girls' school from Singapore. Happy holiday weekend, everyone.
