ATISHAYAVARAVALLAVĒ "Jesus, the wonderful gift from God" Text: Abijah Samuel (1837-1879) melody: Indian Traditional - 1st tune Staff notation by Benjamin L. Rice about 1898, but No. 30 in his manuscript-fragment "Kiirtanegalu" has no repetitions of the bars 2 and 3 as it is common practice nowadays - and as it can be heard in this recording from KTC, Mangalore. The two guest musicians are pastors, who have studied at KTC some years ago. "Rev. Abijah Samuel (1837-1879) was one of the first fruits of the Wesleyan Theological Institutions of those days in Bangalore. His ministered labours were divided between Bangalore and the city of Mysore. He was a master of both Tamil and Kannada and had a fair knowledge of English and Hindustani. He made valuable contributions to Kannada literature, especially in the composition of lyrics adopted to Carnatic music. Many of those have received widespread popularity. He was a powerful preacher both to Christian congregations and non-Christians." source: 'Masihi Sangeet. Christian Lyrics of India. Published on the occasion of the third assembly of the World Council of Churches. 1961' (p.27) A song sheet with staff notation cum guitar chords is ready for download under b.cache.kirchenkreis-eschwege.de/files/3/a/4/eaf5f2da34c54494bb52577284f7c/027.1-ATISHAYA-KTC-song%20sheet.pdf Also a free piano version can be downloaded: http://b.cache.kirchenkreis-eschwege.de/files/b/c/d/c2233f460554332548fb2213af917/027%20ATISHAYAVARAVALLAVEE%20KTC%20piano.pdf
