For this post, I would like to give another example of a traditional hymn that has been covered countless times. Like “Amazing Grace,” the song “How Great Thou Art” has been a favorite amongst Christians and music artists alike. “How Great Thou Art” was originally written by Carl Boberg in 1885, who was a preacher in Sweden. The song was originally written as a poem. However, the version we know and love today is thanks to a British minister named Stuart K. Hine. The entire song is written in awe of God’s power and in appreciation of all things He placed on this Earth for us. The song mentions things like stars, mountains, forests birds and even the breeze. Not only is this a classic hymn to hear on Sunday morning in church, it has also been covered many times by big name artists like Carrie Underwood, Elvis Presley, and Jennifer Hudson with the Pentatonix. The song has also been sang in singing competitions such as The Voice.
I would first like to talk about my favorite version, Carrie Underwood’s featuring fellow country artist Vince Gill. At the 2011 American Country Music award show, Carrie delivered an extremely powerful and moving performance of “How Great Thou Art” that left an audience of performers rising to their feet and some even moved to tears. The performance began with her softly singing accompanied by soft piano playing. As the song continues, they are joined by Vince Gill’s guitar playing and harmonizing with her on the chorus. During the “how great thou art” part, Carrie Underwood shows off her extremely powerful voice. The first chorus is followed by a beautiful guitar solo by Gill. The rest of the song becomes increasingly powerful as more of the band joins in and Carrie’s voice continues to get louder with big notes.
Like Carrie Underwood, Elvis begins his performance with a soft and reverent voice and piano playing. Unlike Carrie, Elvis is accompanied by a group of singers who begin singing at 1:14. At about 1:33, Elvis continues to sing. The performance goes from reverent to a little more “Elvis” style at 1:50 when Elvis gets louder and the band joins in. The piano playing changes style as well as his voice into that iconic style of singing he is known for. The rst of the group of singers join in for an upbeat and exciting performance for the rest of the song.
The Pentatonix are a very popular acapella singing group. This means they use their voices and other body parts in order to make music. This performance with Jennifer Hudson begins with her singing alone without any other sounds accompanying her. She is joined by other singers one by one, however, they are not making any musical sounds until 1:24 when they begin stomping and clapping along with the beat. It is interesting to hear the song without a piano playing.
Sources:
https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/articles/how-great-thou-art.html
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