In My Heart There Rings a Melody

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit,

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and

spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

Ephesians 5:18-20 

For an end of the year project for my Music Theory class my freshman year in college, each student was to write an original song.  Piece of cake, right?  As soon as we had our melody in hand, we were to come and play it for the teacher.  I was one of the first to do that.  After listening to my “original”: composition, he grabbed a hymnbook and showed me the song I was copying.  For the first three or four weeks of the semester, I visited the professor’s office daily and played my “original” song.  Time after time I turned away frustrated.  Since that experience, I have had the utmost respect for musicians who can compose.  It is not my gift.

Elton Roth was a music evangelist in a small town in Texas in 1923.  One morning he wandered in the local church and made his way to the sanctuary.  There were no people in the pews, no minister in the pulpit.  He had been hearing a melody in his head all morning, so picking up a scrap piece of paper, he wrote down both the melody and the words for In My Heart There Rings a Melody.

 

In My Heart There Rings a Melody

Arr. Patty Drennan 

Feel free to leave a comment, or share the name of your favorite hymn