Thanks Be to God Most High / Deo Gratias

This is a general hymn of thanks to God: it can be used for Harvest festival, though is not specifically focused on the natural world. The last line of each verse includes the Latin phrase "Deo gratias", which translated as "thanks be to God".

It was written by English modern choral composer, publisher and professional church musician, Stephen Dean (b. 1948), and first published in 1994.

With meter 12 12 13 5 5 6, it is set the tune CHARIS which was composed by Dean for this hymn. This has a 4/4 time signature. In the key of D, the first few notes of the melody are F DE F A B BA F D E_ F_ with accompanying chords D / A / Bm / F# / Gmaj7 / A7 / D.

Image adapt from a work by 35mmMan CC BY 2.0

Downloads and sheet music

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Buy SATB choir arrangement

Buy sheet music from OCP

Examples

Singer with midi keyboard

Singer with keyboard - energetic version

Choir with organ, professional recording

Choir with piano, words on-screen

Choir with organ

Instrumental - mandolin with backing track

Lyrics

The lyrics are copyright so cannot be reproduced here. But they are currently available on this website. A rough outline is:

1. Thanks be to God whose love has gathered us this day ...

Chorus:
Deo gratias, Deo gratias, Thanks be to God most high.

2. Thanks be to God for all the gifts of life and light ...

3. Thanks be to God who knows our secret joys and fears ...

4. Thanks be to God who never turns his face away ...

5. Thanks be to God who made our world and all we see ...