Overview
"All Creatures of Our God and King" is an English Christian hymn by William Henry Draper, based on a poem by St. Francis of Assisi. It was first published in a hymn book in 1919.
History
The words of the hymn were initially written by St. Francis of Assisi in 1225 in the Canticle of the Sun poem, which was based on Psalm 148. The words were translated into English by William Draper, who at the time was rector of a Church of England parish church at Adel near Leeds. Draper paraphrased the words of the Canticle and set them to music. It is not known when Draper first wrote the hymn but it was between 1899 and 1919. Draper wrote it for his church's children's Whitsun festival celebrations and it was later published in 1919 in the Public School Hymn Book. Like "Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones", Draper's text is usually set to the tune of "", a German Easter hymn published by Friedrich Spee in 1623 in his book . This tune became widespread in English hymn books starting with a 1906 arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams. John Rutter also wrote a piece of music for the hymn.
Despite the hymn being initially written by Draper for Whitsun (the Anglican and English designation for Pentecost), it is mostly used in the earlier weeks of the Easter season.
Melody
The most common melody is the 1623 German hymn tune . 1 es,2 es4 f g es g as 1 \bar" " es4^\markup \italic "Harmony." d c2 bes es4 d c2 bes\fermata \breathe \bar" " es2^\markup \italic "Unison." es4 bes bes as g as 1 es2 es4 bes bes as g as bes1 \bar" " as4^\markup \italic "Harmony." g f2 es as4 g f2 es es'4 d c2 bes es4^\markup \italic "Unison." d c2 bes as4 g f1. es1 \bar" ." \\ bes2 es1 es2 es2 d es bes4 d es2 es2 es2 d bes'4 bes bes( as) g2 es4 d g( f) d2 bes'4 as g2~ g4 f es2 es d es4 f es2. es4 d g f es4 es es( d) es2 es4 es es( d) c2 g'4 f g( f) d2 ~ 4 4~ c, es es2 d1 bes \\ s2 s1. s1. s1. s1 s2 s1. s1. s1. s1 \stemDown \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = 0 bes'2 >> %necessary for that one note \new Lyrics \lyricmode \set stanza = #"1."All2 crea4 -- tures of our God and King,1 Lift2 up4 your voice and with us sing1 Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya, al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya!
Thou2 burn4 -- ing sun with gold -- en beam,1 Thou2 sil4 -- ver moon with soft -- er gleam:1 O2 praise him, O praise him Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya, Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya, Al4 -- le -- lu1. -- ya!1 \new Lyrics \lyricmode \set stanza = #"2." Thou2 rush4 -- ing wind that art so strong,1 Ye2 clouds4 that sail in heaven a -- long,1 O2 praise him! Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya! Thou2 ri4 -- sing morn, in praise re -- joice,1 Ye2 lights4 of eve -- ning, find a voice1 \new Lyrics \lyricmode \set stanza = #"3." Thou2 flow4 -- ing wa -- ter, pure and clear,1 Make2 mu4 -- sic for thy Lord to hear,1 Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya, al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya! Thou2 fire4 so mast -- er -- ful and bright,1 That2 giv4 -- est man both warmth and light:1 \new Lyrics \lyricmode \set stanza = #"7." Let2 all4 things their Cre -- a -- tor bless,1 And2 wor4 -- ship him in hum -- ble -- ness,1 O2 praise him! Al4 -- le -- lu2 -- ya!
Praise,2 praise4 the Fa -- ther, praise the Son,1 And2 praise4 the Spi -- rit, three in One:1 \new Staff \clef bass \key es \major \set Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \relative c' 1 \\ s2 s1. s1. s1. s1 s2 s1. s1. s1. s1. s1. s1 s2 s1. s1. s1 \stemUp \once \override NoteColumn.force-hshift = 0 bes'2 >> %necessary for that one note >> >> \layout indent = #0 \midi \tempo 2 = 80
In popular culture
The hymn is prominently featured in the pilot episode of the comedy programme Mr. Bean, where the title character is in church when the congregation sings "All Creatures of Our God and King", but he has no hymnal. Consequently, he mumbles through most of the song, save for the recurrent "Alleluia", which he sings as loudly as possible. In the United States, it was covered by the David Crowder Band on the album Can You Hear Us? in 2002 and in the album Illuminate in 2003.