Fairest Lord Jesus

This beloved hymn is sung in almost every denomination in the United States and Great Britain, but it is most adored in the Lutheran church (their lyrics are somewhat different and they call it Beautiful Savior).  The hymn-text was written in the 17th century by German Jesuits (Schonster Herr Jesu).  Some stanzas were first published in the Munster Gsangbuch, in 1677.  Other stanzas appeared in a Leipzig hymnal in 1842.  All stanzas were translated from German to English by Joseph A. Seiss, 1873.  The hymn-tune is the Crusader's Hymn which originally was a Silesian folk tune from Schlesische Volkslieder, published in 1842. It was arranged as we know it today by Richard S. Willis in 1850. Dr. Cooper's inimitably melody-part style writing provides such melodic parts that almost all adolescent singers will be able to maintain their parts against the others.