O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown
(Kingsfold melody)
About the Song
Words by Karen Lynn Davidson, copyright 1985 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Used by permission
Melody: “Kingsfold”
Arranged by Sally DeFord
This lyric by LDS author Karen Lynn Davidson is one of the most beautiful hymn texts I know.
The melody, a lovely old folk/hymn tune called “Kingsfold,” has been used with a variety of texts both sacred and secular, and in a work for harp and orchestra by Ralph Vaughn Williams.
The text and the melody seem to have been made for each other, they fit together so perfectly.
A couple of notes: The only files available for transposition in .pc format are the piano score and the violin score, which are my own arrangement of public domain material. Hopefully that will be enough to allow you to perform it in the key you prefer.
Eventually there may be a solo score available, but the melody can be sung with the choral accompaniment and violin obbligato, since they are identical.
There is no free download of the recording with vocals for this song. I have to pay royalties on the track, and paying royalties on something for which you don’t get paid yourself is really bad for your budget. The accompaniment track is available for free download. The track with vocals may be purchased here: Apple Music Amazon
Sheet Music Downloads
PDF:
- O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown (SATB-Kingsfold melody) (PDF courtesy of lds.org.)
Personal Composer:
Transpose/resize .pc files using the Personal Composer Demo. (Help)Spotify, Soundcloud (inc. free downloads)
Click the 
to download the free track for personal use.
Recording featuring vocals by James Loynes:
Accompaniment track:
Apple Music, Amazon
These files may be copied/shared in any quantity in any physical format unless otherwise noted. They may not be re-sold or offered for download.
YouTube
(Video provided to YouTube by outside parties may contain ads that may be skipped after a few seconds.)
Lyrics
O Savior, thou who wearest
A crown of piercing thorn,
The pain thou meekly bearest,
Weigh’d down by grief and scorn.
The soldiers mock and flail thee;
For drink they give thee gall;
Upon the cross they nail thee
To die, O King of all.
No creature is so lowly,
No sinner so depraved,
But feels thy presence holy
And thru thy love is saved.
Tho craven friends betray thee,
They feel thy love’s embrace;
The very foes who slay thee
Have access to thy grace.
Thy sacrifice transcended
The mortal law’s demand;
Thy mercy is extended
To ev’ry time and land.
No more can Satan harm us,
Tho long the fight may be,
Nor fear of death alarm us;
We live, O Lord, thru thee.
What praises can we offer
To thank thee, Lord most high?
In our place thou didst suffer;
In our place thou didst die,
By heaven’s plan appointed,
To ransom us, our King.
O Jesus, the anointed,
To thee our love we bring!
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11 Comments
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Hi! I am trying to help our church choir by playing the violin accompaniment to ‘O, Savior thou who wearers a crown’ but was curious if the violin part could be done an octave lower? I’m not skilled playing in 4th position enough yet but could manage if the notes were lower…..is that a possibility? Thank you!
Holbrook Arizona Stake is singing this song in an Easter Concert. We are enjoying working on this beautiful hymn.
Where can I access the solo version that goes with the violin obligato? I can only see the SSATB version.
Hi Sally,
I had my stake conference this weekend where I performed your arrangement of O Saviour, Thou Who Wearest.
The conference was broadcast on YouTube and the music can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXva5-Jjmf1tDfgxxAmlWTQ
Sorry about the poor quality of the audio. It was out of my control!
I hope you feel we did a good enough rendition of your music. Thanks for sharing it.
Thank you Sally for this beautiful arrangement. We used the accompaniment last Easter, giving you credit, of course! This year a very talented cellist has moved into our ward, and we hope to use your arrangement again in a stake Easter presentation. Is there any way to change the violin obbligato into a cello part through your tools? (I’m definitely old school and not familiar with anything but writing parts out by hand.)
This is the arrangement that should be in the New Hymnal. So beautiful. I love it so much more than the current Melody. Please. Please suggest it!
I totally agree with you Sylvia, and I have suggested this melody/lyric pairing. You can too! Here: https://lds.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2m20pSAlCEcevVb
This song is so beautiful and I love your arrangement. Is there a better copy of the SSATB. On my Acrobat Reader it is showing up a little rough. Please let me know. Thanks so much for all you do. 🙂
I wish. The only available copy is the download through music.LDS.org They’re in the process of revamping their website, so eventually there may be a better copy there. I can’t offer it directly because I’d have to pay royalties… and try to figure out how many copies I owed royalties on… and charge people for every copy they might make… So we’re stuck with that one until after the re-do. 🙁
LOVE THIS SONG!!!
lyrics and melody, beautiful