Amazing Grace music box
Amazing Grace is a song of comfort and hope. As a music box tune it brings a quiet, reflective moment to everyday life.
- Tune
- Amazing Grace
- Composer
- Words by John Newton; tune “New Britain”
- Origin
- Words written 1772
A short in-browser sample of the melody, not a recording of the finished mechanism.
The story behind the tune
John Newton, a former slave-ship captain who became a clergyman and later campaigned against the slave trade, wrote the words in 1772. They were published in 1779 in Olney Hymns.
For decades the words were sung to many different tunes. The pairing we know today, with the American melody called “New Britain”, came in 1835 when William Walker published them together in his songbook The Southern Harmony.
How it sounds on a music box
The melody is built from a simple five-note scale, which keeps it clear and singable when arranged for a music box. Final arrangements for the Musical Drawer are still being developed.
Lovely for
- Christenings and baptisms
- Memorial keepsakes
- Quiet, meaningful gifts