Fantasia On Truro (Know That My Redeemer Lives)

Grade Level 3

Year: 2010

Type: Hymn/Song Arrangement

Composer: Robert Redhead

Program Notes:

The melody, known as Truro, seems to have first been recognized in a collection of music known as Psalmodia Evangelica, edited by Thomas Williams in 1789, where it served as a setting for a text by Isaac Watts. It bore no composer’s name, and little is known of Thomas Williams. It has, however, given a “voice” to various lyricists ever since.

Samuel Medley was just such a lyricist with his Easter hymn, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.”  Verses one and four of this joyous song speak to the assurance of the resurrection while, verses two and three celebrate the impact of the resurrection on our daily lives.  The timeless message of this triumphal song is very effectively summed up in its last two lines:

What joy the sweet assurance gives

That Jesus, my redeemer, lives!

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)