“Morning Has Broken” is a Christian hymn whose lyrics are from 1931 applied to an 18th century Scottish Folk Melody.
I certainly did not know that! No wonder it sounds so sincere. I know it’s just a performance, but there is something about the quality of that song is quite effective.
Of course, the choirs in the chorus help.
Whoever is playing the piano, really knows what they’re doing. Those light, loose flourishes at the end of each line of the verse sound casual, but they are not.
"Morning Has Broken" is a popular and well-known Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and was inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, then set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune known as "Bunessan." It is often sung in children's services and in Funeral services.The hymn originally appeared in the second edition of Songs of Praise (published in 1931), to the tune "Bunessan," composed in the Scottish Islands. In Songs of Praise Discussed, the editor, Percy Dearmer, explains that as there was a need for a hymn to give thanks for each day, English poet and children's author Eleanor Farjeon had been "asked to make a poem to fit the lovely Scottish tune." A slight variation on the original hymn, also written by Eleanor Farjeon, can be found in the form of a poem contributed to the anthology Children's Bells, under Farjeon's new title, "A Morning Song (For the First Day of Spring)," published by Oxford University Press in 1957. The song is noted in 9/4 time but with a 3/4 feel.