Singing the "Te Deum"

In addition to being able to recite the Six Chief Parts, every St John student in seventh and eighth grade could sing the entire Te Deum at a moment's notice. In fact, sometimes we did sing it at a moment's notice.

We praise thee, O God,
We acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship Thee,
The Father everlasting.

To Thee all angels cry aloud,
The Heavens and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.

Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty of thy glory.
The glorious company of the apostles praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise thee.
The noble army of martyrs praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world doth acknowledge Thee,
The Father of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory, O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man
Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.

When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death,
Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
Thou sittest at the right hand of God in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge.

We therefore pray thee, help thy servants
Whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with thy Saints in glory everlasting.
O Lord, save thy people and bless thine heritage.

Govern them and lift them up for ever.
Day by day we magnify thee,
And we worship thy name
Ever world without end.

---

Gene Meyer wrote:

While I too recall singing the Te Deum (music arranged by Jan Bender, a one time prof at Seward), I should also say that as a member of the A Capella Choir at Concordia Teachers College (as we were known then) in 1974, we sang the Te Deum on our World Tour as part of concerts in Europe and Asia. Those concerts included one for Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India) and another for Imelda Marcos (wife of President Marcos and owner of a lot of shoes) of the Philippines. Paul Rosel ("Rosie" as we nicknamed him, a one-time Faculty Lane resident) was the conductor. Steve Roettjer (St John connection) was also in the choir with me along with 60+ others.

---

I like this mellow, male-solo version of the Te Deum.