Thanks Be To Thee

Voice Parts:
Soprano:

Soprano

Soprano

Submitted by Rick.Wheeler on Thu, 2009/11/19 - 4:57pm

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Thanks Be To Thee

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Alto

Alto

Submitted by Rick.Wheeler on Thu, 2009/11/19 - 4:59pm

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Thanks Be To Thee

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Tenor/Bass

Tenor/Bass

Submitted by Rick.Wheeler on Thu, 2009/11/19 - 5:01pm

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Thanks Be To Thee

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In the video the tenors vibrato is brutally slow and way over exaggerated but the spirit of the piece is captured by the choir.  I also believe that the pace is way too slow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjNwxjJJbeo

A somewhat better performace (but not much better interpretation) of this piece.

Also more information regarding the history of this piece.

Although choral publications or recordings with Jessye Norman, Sarah Brightman, or Barabara Streisand attribute these works to Handel, it doesn't appear Handel composed any of them.

'Thanks Be to Thee' is said to be an arrangement of Handel's 'Dank sei Dir, Herr'. However, this is a spurious Handelian work. References to 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' being composed by Handel date from the late 19th century in Germany. The true origins of 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' remain unknown. Channing LeFebvre arranged 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' for organ.  Siegfried Ochs is generally attributed with the first arrangement of 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' resulting in 'Thanks Be to Thee'.  'Thanks Be to Thee' was arranged by many other composers, including Vogel, Page, Houseknecht, Christiansen, Harris, Shaw, Causey, Bement, Wilson, Wiley, Forsblad, Nichols, et al. Although the origins of 'Thanks Be to Thee' and 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' are cloudy, Handel scholars are convinced that Handel did not compose either work. (Note: For more information about this spurious Handelian association, see Martin Staehelin's paper titled 'Dank sei Dir, Herr' Zur Erklärung einer Händel-Fälschung des frühen zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts from the Göttinger Händel-Beiträge, volume 2, 1986. pp. 194-206.)