Psalm 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd

I was recently discussing musical settings of Psalm 23 (The Lord is my Shepherd) with my eldest daughter. She went to a Church of England primary school, and therefore learnt a version of the song at school. But we use a different version at church, so we started trying to remember all the versions we had heard. There are so many, we eventually resorted to YouTube to remind us of the different tunes. There are even more versions there, so here’s my pick of the best and most interesting:

Anyone who was at school in the 1970s, even if they didn’t attend a church school, probably learnt the “Crimond” version:


My own favourite is the version by Howard Goodall. Those who know the BBC series The Vicar of Dibley will know the first and last verses, but may not know the middle bit. Here the Choir Boys sing it:


Here’s a Greek Orthodox version ... in greek:



The version we use at church is composed by Stuart Townend. I couldn't find it sung on YouTube, but here's the tune:


[Update - I did find a version with the words:]


Even a hip hop version (well, kind of):



One by John Rutter




Here’s an odd version composed by Joel Navarro, and performed by Sole Voce of Los Angeles



...and a version composed by an Australian opera singer Jason Barry-Smith and performed by an Australian youth choir:



Here’s Bob Chilcott's setting:



... and Keith Green's song:



Psalm 23 must be the best known psalm in entire psalter, and is probably one of the best know passages of the entire bible. Here are the words from the King James Authorized translation:

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

[Update: thank you to my contributor for pointing out the version known as Brother James' Air, which is in fact, the one we use at church. I didn't know it was called that, which is why I missed it. Here's a youtube example

Airto Moriera

Last week I was on my own, feeling rather depressed and tired. Having no enthusiasm for anything I resorted to channel surfing on the telly. Not being in the mood for comedy, drama or light entertainment, I found a Dizzy Gillespie concert on Mainstreet TV. I’m not a great jazz fan, but it was a case of nothing better to watch so I settled down to take in at least a few minutes. It was a concert recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, I would guess in the 1990s.

The very next number featured Flora Purim, “The Queen” as she was introduced. Things were looking up! Half way through this piece there was a drum solo. Watching the drummer, I started thinking that I wished I could play drums. The mood I was in, I just wanted to lose myself in something; and to lose yourself in creating rhythm by smacking the hell out a drum kit must be a really therapeutic experience. After a couple of minutes, the drummer handed over the solo to the percussionist, and this bit blew my mind. Thinking about losing myself in a rhythm, I was faced with a man who was doing exactly that. He got more and more wild and passionate until I thought he would explode.

At the end of the concert when the credits came up I found that this man was non other than Airto Moriera. I don’t know much about Airto, but back in the 1980s a girlfriend gave me a tape of Flora Purim and Airto which had greatly impressed me. I played it all the time for a while, but for some reason I never looked up the two performers any further. (This was before the internet I suppose.) I did once stumble into Ronnie Scott’s, absolutely plastered one evening in the 1990s to find Flora Purim on stage. Unfortunately I was so drunk that it was all I could do to recognise the voice – I remember nothing else about the concert. I have also managed to buy a CD by each of them at some time, but I’ve never got round to listening to either of them much. I’m putting that straight right now - as I write this I’m listening to “Seeds on the Ground” by Airto.

I tried to record the concert (mainstreet always show things several times), but my VHS recorder is a bit temperamental, and I didn’t get a copy. Unfortunately they don’t seem to be repeating this concert; but of course interesting musical pieces always pop up on youtube, and this one is no exception. So here is that drum solo – feast your eyes and ears (and toes) on this – Airto takes over just about 2 minutes into the video.