Background story: A visiting preacher wanted the choir and congregation to sing a song which was not to be found in the current popular hymn books ('He left the splendour of heaven'). Klaus did not have the hymn in his collection and requested a scanned version of the song. As happens so often these days with people who have an unshakeable faith in the miraculous abilities of their mobile phones, instead of using a flatbed scanner, the preacher used a mobile phone ('smartphone') to photograph a printed copy of the song. Klaus received the two pages of the song as two jpg files:
Both pages were of abysmal quality and impossible to play or sing from (out of focus and lacking contrast). Page 2 moreover had no margins and some of the notes were cut off. Klaus therefore requested a better version of page 2 and received:
He then worked for several hours copying the melody by hand, laboriously, with the help of a magnifying glass and a fair amount of guesswork and musical intuition as to what was probable and what was not. The result was this file:
Klaus sent this to Hyacinth, the choir leader. He also let her see a warm-hearted testimonial which had just arrived after a wedding at Trinity College Oxford.
Hyacinth responded as follows:
From Hyacinth Christian, Choir leader
Hornsey Moravian Church
Priory Road
London N8-7HRDate: 17 August 2018, 22:52
Thank you Klaus for the so much clearer copy of the music, and I am delighted to see we are not the only ones who love having you. That review was so true, thanks for being you.
See you on Sunday. God Bless
Hyacinth
