Tuesday, August 28, 2007
King Of Kings
When I was 13-years-old, my best friend Sophie Conty and I wrote the song "King of Kings" to sing at her church. We were asked to perform it for a convention of missionaries. There were about a thousand people in the audience and we were scared but dared each other to do it. It's a simple song in a 2-part round and the audience learned it quickly and sang along. Afterwards, those missionaries scattered throughout the world and the song went with them. The pastor at Sophie's church saw it published in a songbook as anonymous and contacted the company to let them know we were the songwriters. (Thanks for taking action!!!!) Maranatha Music, one of the largest Christian publishers, offered us a contract and it's been successful ever since. The song has been translated into several languages, recorded by many artists and is still performed as a classic praise song in countless church services.
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9 comments:
21 Dec 2006
I found this online. The info about me is wrong but, hey, it's still nice to be mentioned.
King of Kings
Quoting biblical names of the Messiah from texts such as 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, and Isaiah 9:6, the text of this simple but profound profession of faith was originally cowritten around 1974 by Naomi Batya and Sophie Conty when they were both thirteen years old. Set to a Hebrew folk tune, this chorus made its way into many congregations by way of oral tradition, and was published initially anonymously by Maranatha! Music in 1980. The proper authorship was restored after the girls’ pastor recognized the published song and contacted Maranatha! Music.
Partly because of its musical setting, which is a canon or round, it became a popular favorite in the great wave of Scripture-based mini-songs that swept through Christianity in the last quarter of the twentieth century; it is found in many hymnals and songbooks and has been frequently recorded, including on Petra Praise: The Rock Cries Out (1989).
Naomi Batya grew up in New York City and then moved to California for university studies; she lives in Berkeley and continues making music in the Jewish folk tradition. I could not find out anything about her coauthor, Sophie Conty.
“King of Kings” is suited to many occasions in Christian worship. Sing it in unison first at a lively tempo (quarter note = 92), and then sing it as a two-part round, possibly several more times, with the tempo increasing as in the manner of a Jewish hora (dance). The accompaniment is written for piano, but given the folk tradition from which this music comes, use other instruments too: guitar, clarinet, tambourine—and don’t forget the clapping! You may also want to teach children to sign this song.
While this song works fine all on its own, I also use it as a Christian “tag” after singing a psalm, similar to the early Christian tradition of adding “Glory Be to the Father” to the end of Old Testament psalms. In that vein the Leader’s Edition of Songs for LiFE (CRC Publications, 1994) suggested that “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” be paired with the Brazilian “Cantad al Señor/O Sing to the Lord” (SNC 224) or with Twila Paris’s “We Will Glorify the King of Kings” (SFL 1icon_cool.gif. Let me illustrate this “tag” practice with a generic psalmodic text, “Sing Praise to the Lord” (PsH 466, known in some other hymnals as “O Praise Ye the Lord”). This hymn is a free paraphrase of Psalms 148 and 150, and is usually sung to C. Hubert Parry’s tune laudate dominum in Bb major. Sing the four stanzas of this psalmodic hymn, then do a brief modulation as in the example (left) which leads right into the singing of “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
This link shows a camp that uses the song.
http://treeoflifebiblecamp.org/music.html
Church uses song in service
http://www.pbcc.org/resources/pastservices/20040404.html
Here's the music
http://www.hymnsite.com/fws/hymn.cgi?2075
I'm not sure, is this Greek?
http://www.yle.fi/levysto/firs2/kappale.php?Id=King+of+kings
Russian?
http://www.cb.sk/spevnik/2002-08-12-spev-sk-text-001-629-A5-2stl-(300dpi).pdf
Recorded by Petra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra_Praise:_The_Rock_Cries_Out
http://www.petrarocksmyworld.com/petrapraise1.html
30 Dec 2006
when i see that title I think of the Motorhead song.
Cro
31 Dec 2006
Cro,
I don't know that one.
Nomi
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