Hymn to Freedom

Hymn to Freedom is a tune composed by Oscar Peterson in 1962. According to his own account, it was actually an improvisation that arose during the actual recording of the first version:

On December 16 he sat in the studio with his then trio, which consisted of Ray Brown on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. They were completing the recording of the LP Night Train , and producer Norman Granz had asked them to play a blues song.

The musicians agreed that Peterson should play the first verse alone. He could have chosen to play one of the many blues tunes from the standard jazz repertoire; But he decided to play something new that he created on the spot. He tried to make the melody and harmonies quite simple and filled them with the same mood as those of the negro spirituals he had grown up with, which for decades had been sung in churches of the United States and Canada.

When he had played through the verse, he nodded to the other musicians to start the accompaniment while he began to play variations on the theme. Towards the end he plays a virtuoso performance on the piano, which extends over several cycles without ever breaking the song's hymn-like character. And then Peterson lands softly and safely in the quiet mood of the introduction.

When the recording was finished, Peterson chose to call it Hymn to Freedom in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and his struggle for freedom and racial equality.

A few months after the first recording, Harriette Hamilton wrote lyrics for the tune. Within a few years it won the status of a modern spiritual and is still sung all over the world. Especially youth choirs sing it a lot.

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