Choral Choir (SSA) - Level 4 - Digital Download SKU: A0.915697 Composed by Early American Tune. Arranged by Richard Joseph Barber. Christian,Contemporary,Sacred,Spiritual. Octavo. 7 pages. Barber Music Company #3879693. Published by Barber Music Company (A0.915697). This piece lasts two minutes and nineteen seconds. John Newton, 1725 - 1807, author of Amazing Grace, also wrote, How Tedious and Tasteless the Hours. The hymn tune is GREEN FIELDS, and depending on the hymnal or other source in which you find it, opinions vary about who originally composed it. Most, I believe, will call it an Early American Melody, but some attribute it to J. S. Bach, and say that it is found in his Peasant Cantata. However, I listened to the entire Peasant Cantata recently to see if that true, and, although I did hear fragments in one aria that sounded reminiscent of GREEN FIELDS, it seems a bit of a stretch to me to say that the hymn tune has its original version in Bach's cantata. If someone can point me to the portion of the cantata where Bach gives us a clearly identifiable early version, I would be very appreciative. Bach is essentially my favorite composer, and I wouldn't mind attributing the origin of this and many other great melodies to him. -Richard Barber
