This setting of A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief was written in 2011 for use in a conference. I wrote it for performance by two of my most influential musical mentors: my father sang, and my grandfather accompanied him on the piano. The piece begins with a new tune for James Montgomery’s beloved lyric. Then the familiar tune by George Coles is introduced as a countermelody. The last verse is sung over another hymn tune by George Manwaring played on the piano. A note on the lyrics: A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief has seven beautiful verses that tell a moving story. For congregational singing, I do not endorse omitting any of the verses. However, while this setting uses only four of the seven verses, it is over five minutes long. For the sake of practicality, all of the verses could not be included.

This is the low voice (female) or baritone voice (male) option.