#490: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

Upon researching, this is based on a Greek text that's pretty ancient, it's based on a line from Habakkuk and used as a communion song in some Eastern Orthodox churches. Which is neat, but I actually wanted to talk about the hymn tune. It's named "Picardy," after the French region. That's also the namesake for the "Picardy third," the melodic feature where a minor melody ends with a chord featuring the major third, for a "hopeful" sound that contrasts with the rest of the piece. Surprisingly (to me) it's not obvious that these two are related from a quick Wikipedia skim, but personally I feel like they have to be, because this melody is indeed a dramatic minor one that would be nice to end with a major chord!

(My choir comrades, as I may have mentioned, sometimes claim Picardy thirds are overused. This opinion is one for haters and losers.)

The "Picardy" melody has also been used for a couple great anthems by Sylvia Dunstan, who we've seen a couple times here. Both "Transform us as you, transfigured" and "You, Lord, are both Lamb and Shepherd" feature this melody! (And have dramatic major chord endings.)