Anthology of the American Hymn-Tune Repertory
Tune Name: Majesty (Go to Billings' original version)
Composer: William Billings arr. Lowell Mason
Source: National Psalmist, Boston, 1848. Compiled by L. Mason
Although the melody is in the tenor position in this score the reformers stated that the melody should be sung by treble voices and the top line by tenors. The recording reflects this practice.
Note at bottom of page: This is one of the American Tunes so very popular about the beginning of the present century. We have made but one slight change in the melody in passing from the fifth to the sixth measures. The harmony necessarily differs from the original, but while it is made to conform to the universally acknowledged laws of musical science, it is thought to be also in good keeping with the general character of the tune.