"Morning Has Broken" is a Christianhymn 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, "Bunessan". It is often sung in children's services and in funeral services. English pop musician and folk singerCat Stevens included a version on his album Teaser and the Firecat. The song became identified with Stevens due to the popularity of this recording. It reached number six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number one on the U.S. easy listening chart in 1972, and number four on the Canadian RPM magazine charts.
Origins
The hymn originally appeared in the second edition of Songs of Praise, to the tune "Bunessan", composed in the Scottish Islands. In Songs of Praise Discussed, the editor, Percy Dearmer, explains that as there was 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 ", published by Oxford University Press in 1957. The song is noted in time but with a feel. After appearing in Lachlan MacBean's Songs and Hymns of the Gael, "Bunessan" was used in the Revised Church Hymnary and the Appendix to the Irish Church Hymnal paired with the nativity text, "Child in the Manger" by the Scottish poet Mary MacDonald, who lived on the Isle of Mull and was born there, near the village of Bunessan for which the tune is named. The tune is also used for James Quinn hymns, "Christ Be Beside Me" and "This Day God Gives Me", both of which were adapted from the traditional Irish hymn "St. Patrick's Breastplate". Michael Saward's hymn "Baptized In Water" also uses the tune.
Cat Stevens recording
Writing credit for "Morning Has Broken" has occasionally been erroneously attributed to Cat Stevens, whose recording led to the song being known internationally. The piano arrangement on Stevens' recording was arranged and performed by Rick Wakeman, a classically trained keyboardist who joined the English progressive rock bandYes soon afterwards. When shaping "Morning Has Broken" for recording, Stevens started with the hymn, which took around 45 seconds to sing in its basic form. Producer Paul Samwell-Smith told him he could never put something like that on an album, and that it had to be at least three minutes, though an acoustic demo of an early Stevens version lasts almost three minutes. Prior to the actual recording Stevens heard Wakeman play something in the recording booth. It was a rough sketch of what would later become "Catherine Howard". Stevens told Wakeman that he liked it and wanted something similar as the opening section, the closing section and, if possible, a middle section as well. Wakeman told Stevens he could not as it was his piece destined for a solo album, but Stevens persuaded him to adapt his composition. In 2000, Wakeman released an instrumental version of "Morning Has Broken" on an album of the same title. That same year he gave an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live in which he said he had agreed to perform on the Cat Stevens track for £10 and was "shattered" that he was omitted from the credits, adding that he never received the money either. On his return to performance as Yusuf Islam, Stevens made a payment to Wakeman and apologized for the original non-payment, which he said arose from confusion and a misunderstanding on the record label's part. On a documentary aired on British television, Wakeman stated that he felt Stevens's version of "Morning Has Broken" was a very beautiful piece of music that had brought people closer to religious truth. He expressed satisfaction in having contributed to this. Wakeman included a 3:42 version on his 2017 album of piano arrangements, Piano Portraits. The Stevens arrangement changes keys back and forth four times. The first, second, and fourth verses of the song are played in C major, while the instrumental introduction, third verse, and the instrumental ending are played in D major.
