My friend Dan Moore is posting a series of in-home performances on youtube to support the new reality of remote worship, mandated by some governments, and practiced by responsible, god-fearing and life loving people everywhere. In “Plague Music #21,” Dan plays a few choruses of “Blessed Assurance.” The hymn is by Fanny Crosby and Phoebe Knapp, and dates from 1873. (The hymn is at about 7:08 in the video.)

I always liked “Blessed Assurance.” I always reharmonize it, swapping out vi, and maybe iii, for the many returns to I. But that is because I play church music solely for my own enjoyment, and almost never at “work.” (Every now and then, I am browbeaten into an Xmass themed dance class, but except for a few, like “Silent Night,” which is in 3, and in even 8s, and therefore irresistibly useable, I keep to the secular side.) So I don’t have to accompany anybody, and thus can pervert the changes all I want.

The other thing I like about “Blessed Assurance” is the text, specifically the way THAT text is set to THAT music. For pure washed in the blood inspiration, you can’t beat Fanny Crosby. She was harmonized by, or wrote to, her friend Phoebe Knapp’s tune. The melody, in the refrain, leaps the fourth to the tonic an octave up. Always a sign of winking triumph over all those other, darker tones down below! And what word does triumph get? Story! No fiction writer can let that go unremarked. In the repetition, which closes the chorus, the tonic is preceded by a turn around the pitch rather than a leap. The hymn is a fine example of inspiration, craftsmanship and perfect Lennon-McCartney-style collaboration. No wonder I like it!