THE TUNE.
No more sympathetic music has been written to these lines than “Carol,” the tune composed by Richard Storrs Willis, a brother of Nathaniel Parker Willis the poet, and son of Deacon Nathaniel Willis, the founder of the Youth's Companion. He was born Feb, 10, 1819, graduated at Yale in 1841, and followed literature as a profession. He was also a musician and composer. For many years he edited the N.Y. Musical World, and, besides contributing frequently to current literature, published Church Chorals and Choir Studies, Our Church Music and several other volumes on musical subjects. Died in Detroit, May 7, 1900.
The much-loved and constantly used advent psalm of Mr. Sears,—
528 / 468—was set to music by John Edgar Gould, and the smooth choral with its sweet chords is a remarkable example of blended voice and verse.
“O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM!”
Phillips Brooks, the eloquent bishop of Massachusetts, loved to write simple and tender poems for the children of his church and diocese. They all reveal his loving heart and the beauty of his consecrated imagination. This one, the best of his Christmas Songs, was slow in coming to public notice, but finally found its place in hymn-tune collections.
Phillips Brooks, late bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts, was born in Boston, Dec. 13, 1835; died Jan. 23, 1893. He was graduated at Harvard in 1855, and at the Episcopal Divinity School of Alexandria, Va., 1859. The first ten years of his ministry were spent in Pennsylvania, after which he became rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and was elected bishop in 1891. He was an inspiring teacher and preacher, an eloquent pulpit orator, and a man of deep and rich religious life.
The hymn was written in 1868, and it was, no doubt, the ripened thought of his never-forgotten visit to the “little town of Bethlehem” two years before.
THE TUNE.
“Bethlehem” is the appropriate name of a tune written by J. Barnby, and adapted to the words, but it is the hymn's first melody (named “St. Louis” by the compiler who first printed it in the Church Porch from original leaflets) that has the credit of carrying it to popularity.
The composer was Mr. Redner, organist of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, of which 530 / 470 Rector Brooks was then in charge. Lewis Henry Redner, born 1831, was not only near the age of his friend and pastor but as much devoted to the interests of the Sunday-school, for whose use the hymn was written, and he had promised to write a score to which it could be sung on the coming Sabbath. Waking in the middle of the night, after a busy Saturday that sent him to bed with his brain “in a whirl,” he heard “an angel strain,” and immediately rose and pricked the notes of the melody. The tune had come to him just in time to be sung. A much admired tune has also been written to this hymn by Hubert P. Main.
PALM SUNDAY.
FAURE'S “PALM BRANCHES.”
Sur nos chemins les rameaux et les fleurs
Sont repandos—
Jean Baptiste Faure, author of the words and music, was born at Moulins, France, Jan. 15, 1830. As a boy he was gifted with a beautiful voice, and crowds used to gather wherever he sang in the 531 / 471 streets of Paris. Little is known of his parentage, and apparently the sweet voice of the wandering lad was his only fortune. He found wealthy friends who sent him to the Conservatoire, but when his voice matured it ceased to serve him as a singer. He went on with his study of instrumental music, but mourned for his lost vocal triumphs, and his longing became a subject of prayer. He promised God that if his power to sing were given back to him he would use it for charity and the good of mankind. By degrees he recovered his voice, and became known as a great baritone. As professional singer and composer at the Paris Grand Opera, he had been employed largely in dramatic work, but his “Ode to Charity” is one of his enduring and celebrated pieces, and his songs written for benevolent and religious services have found their way into all Christian lands.
His “Palm-Branches” has come to be a sine qua non on its calendar Sunday wherever church worship is planned with any regard to the Feasts of the Christian year.
EASTER.
Perhaps the most notable feature in the early hymnology of the Oriental Church was its Resurrection songs. Being hymns of joy, they called forth all the ceremony and spectacle of ecclesiastical 532 / 472 pomp. Among them—and the most ancient one of those preserved—is the hymn of John of Damascus, quoted in the second chapter (p. 54). This was the proclamation-song in the watch-assemblies, when exactly on the midnight moment at the shout of “Christos egerthe!” (Χριστὸς ἠγέρθη.) “Christ is risen!” thousands of torches were lit, bells and trumpets pealed, and (in the later centuries) salvos of cannon shook the air.
Another favorite hymn of the Eastern Church was the “Salve, Beate Mane,” “Welcome, Happy Morning,” of Fortunatus. (Chap. 10, p. 357.) This poem furnished cantos for Easter hymns of the Middle Ages. Jerome of Prague sang stanzas of it on his way to the stake.
An anonymous hymn, “Poneluctum, Magdelena,” in medieval Latin rhyme, is addressed to Mary Magdelene weeping at the empty sepulchre. The following are the 3d and 4th stanzas, with a translation by Prof. C.S. Harrington of Wesleyan University:
The hymnaries of the Christian Church for seventeen hundred years are so rich in Easter hallelujahs and hosannas that to introduce them all would swell a chapter to the size of an encyclopedia—and even to make a selection is a responsible task.
Simple mention must suffice of Luther's—
—of Watts'—
—of John Wesley's—
—of C.F. Gellert's—
—omitting hundreds which have been helpful in psalmody, and are, perhaps, still in choir or congregational use.
“CHRIST THE LORD IS RISEN TODAY”
Begins a hymn of Charles Wesley's and is also the first line of a hymn prepared for Sunday-school use by Mrs. Storrs, wife of the late Dr. Richard Salter Storrs of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Wesley's hymn is sung—with or without the hallelujah interludes—to “Telemann's Chant,” (Zeuner), to an air of Mendelssohn, and to John Stainer's “Paschale Gaudium.” Like the old New England “Easter Anthem” it appears to have been suggested by an anonymous translation of some more ancient (Latin) antiphony.
AN ANTHEM FOR EASTER.
This work of an amateur genius, with its rustic harmonies, suited the taste of colonial times, and no doubt the devout church-goers of that day 535 / 475 found sincere worship and thanksgiving in its flamboyant music. “An Anthem for Easter,” in A major by William Billings (1785) occupied several pages in the early collections of psalmody and “the sounding joy” was in it. Organs were scarce, but beyond the viols of the village choirs it needed no instrumental accessories. The language is borrowed from the New Testament and Young's Night Thoughts.
Following this triumphant overture, a recitative bass solo repeats I Cor. 15:20, and the chorus takes it up with crowning hallelujahs. Different parts, per fugam, inquire from clef to clef—
Then duet, trio and chorus sing it, successively—
The succeeding thirty-four bars—duet and chorus—take home the sacred gladness to the heart of humanity—
“YES, THE REDEEMER ROSE.”
In the six-eight syllable verse once known as “hallelujah metre”—written by Dr. Doddridge to be sung after a sermon on the text in 1st Corinthians noted in the above anthem—
Lewis Edson's “Lenox” (1782) is an old favorite among its musical interpreters.
“O SHORT WAS HIS SLUMBER.”
This hymn for the song-service of the Ruggles St. Church, Boston, was written by Rev. Theron Brown.
The music is Bliss' tune to Spafford's “When Peace Like a River.”
Another by the same writer, sung by the same church chorus, is—
The composer's name is lost, the tune being left nameless when printed. The impression is that it was a secular melody. A very suitable tune for the hymn is Geo. J. Webb's “Millennial Dawn” (“the Morning Light is breaking.”)
538 / 478THANKSGIVING.
“DIE FELDER WIR PFLÜGEN UND STREUEN.”
Matthias Claudius, who wrote the German original of this little poem, was a native of Reinfeld, Holstein, born 1770 and died 1815. He wrote lyrics, humorous, pathetic and religious, some of which are still current in Germany.
The translator of the verses is Miss Jane Montgomery Campbell, whose identity has not been traced. Hers is evidently one of the retiring names brought to light by one unpretending achievement. English readers owe to her the above modest and devout hymn, which was first published here in Rev. C.S. Bere's Garland of Songs with Tunes, 1861.
Little is known of Arthur Cottman, composer to Miss Campbell's words. He was born in 1842, and died in 1879.
541 / 479“WITH SONGS AND HONORS SOUNDING LOUD.”
Stanzas of this enduring hymn of Watts' have been as often recited as sung.
THE TUNE,
One of the chorals—if not the best—to claim partnership with this sacred classic, is John Cole's “Geneva,” distinguished among the few fugue tunes which the singing world refuses to dismiss. There is a growing grandeur in the opening solo and its following duet as they climb the first tetra-chord, when the full harmony suddenly reveals the majesty of the music. The little parenthetic duo at the eighth bar breaks the roll of the song for one breath, and the concord of voices closes in again like a diapason. One thinks of a bird-note making a waterfall listen.
“HARVEST HOME.”
Thanksgiving Hymn. Boston, 1890. Theron Brown.
Tune “To the Work, To the Work.” W.H. Doane.
“THE GOD OF HARVEST PRAISE.”
Written by James Montgomery in 1840, and published in the Evangelical Magazine as the Harvest Hymn for that year.
Tune, “Dort”—Lowell Mason.
539 / opp 478MORNING.
“STILL, STILL WITH THEE.”
These stanzas of Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, with their poetic beauty and grateful religious spirit, have furnished an orison worthy of a place in all the hymn books. In feeling and in faith the hymn is a matin song for the world, supplying words and thoughts to any and every heart that worships.
THE TUNES.
Barnby's “Windsor,” and “Stowe” by Charles H. Morse (1893)—both written to the words.
Mendelssohn's “Consolation” is a classic interpretation of the hymn, and finely impressive when skillfully sung, but simpler—and sweeter to the popular ear—is Mason's “Henley,” written to Mrs. Eslings'—
“Come unto me when shadows darkly gather.”
EVENING HYMNS.
John Keble's beautiful meditation—
John Leland's—
and Phebe Brown's—
—have already been noticed. Bishop Doane's gentle and spiritual lines express nearly everything that a worshipping soul would include in a moment of evening thought. The first and last stanzas are the ones most commonly sung.
545 / 483THE TUNE.
Both Kozeluck and J.E. Gould, besides Louis M. Gottschalk and Dr. Henry John Gauntlett, have tried their skill in fitting music to this hymn, but only Gottschalk and Kozeluck approach the mood into which its quiet words charm a pious and reflective mind. Possibly its frequent association with “Holley,” composed by George Hews, may influence a hearer's judgement of other melodies but there is something in that tune that makes it cling to the hymn as if by instinctive kinship.
Others may have as much or more artistic music but “Holley” in its soft modulations seems to breathe the spirit of every word.
It was this tune to which a stranger recently heard a group of mill-girls singing Bishop Doane's verses. The lady, a well-known Christian worker, visited a certain factory, and the superintendent, after showing her through the building, opened a door into a long work-room, where the singing of the 546 / 484 girls delighted and surprised her. It was sunset, and their hymn was—
Softly now the light of day.
Several of the girls were Sunday-school teachers, who had encouraged others to sing at that hour, and it had become a habit.
“Has it made a difference?” the lady inquired.
“There is seldom any quarrelling or coarse joking among them now,” said the superintendent with a smile.
Dr. S.F. Smith's hymn of much the same tone and tenor—
—is commonly sung to the tune of “Holley.”
George Hews, an American composer and piano-maker, was born in Massachusetts 1800, and died July 6, 1873. No intelligence of him or his work or former locality is at hand, beyond this brief note in Baptie, “He is believed to have followed his trade in Boston, and written music for some of Mason's earlier books.”
DEDICATION.
“CHRIST IS OUR CORNER-STONE.”
This reproduces in Chandler's translation a song-service in an ancient Latin liturgy (angulare fundamentum).
547 / 485The Rev. John Chandler was born at Witley, Surrey, Eng. June 16, 1806. He took his A.M. degree at Oxford, and entered the ministry of the Church of England, was Vicar of Witley many years, and became well-known for his translations of hymns of the primitive church. Died at Putney, July 1, 1876.
THE TUNE.
Sebastian Wesley's “Harewood” is plainer and of less compass, but Zundel's “Brooklyn” is more than its rival, both in melody and vivacity.
“OH LORD OF HOSTS WHOSE GLORY FILLS THE BOUNDS OF THE ETERNAL HILLS.”
A hymn of Dr. John Mason Neale—
548 / 486THE TUNE.
“Welton,” by Rev. Caesar Malan—author of “Hendon,” once familiar to American singers.
Henri Abraham Cæsar Malan was born at Geneva, Switzerland, 1787, and educated at Geneva College. Ordained to the ministry of the State church, (Reformed,) he was dismissed for preaching against its formalism and spiritual apathy; but he built a chapel of his own, and became a leader with D'Aubigne, Monod, and others in reviving the purity of the Evangelical faith and laboring for the conversion of souls.
Malan wrote many hymns, and published a large collection, the “Chants de Sion,” for the Evangelical Society and the French Reformed Church. He composed the music of his own hymns. Died at Vandosurre, 1864.
“DAUGHTER OF ZION, FROM THE DUST.”
Cases may occur where an exhortation hymn earns a place with dedication hymns.
549 / 487The charred fragment of a hymn-book leaf hangs in a frame on the auditorium wall of the “New England Church,” Chicago. The former edifice of that church, all the homes of its resident members, and all their business offices except one, were destroyed in the great fire. In the ruins of their sanctuary the only scrap of paper found on which there was a legible word was this bit of a hymn-book leaf with the two first stanzas of Montgomery's hymn,
The third verse was not long in coming to every mind—
Rebuild thy walls! thy bounds enlarge!
—and even without that added word the impoverished congregation evidently enough had received a message from heaven. They took heart of grace, overcame all difficulties, and in good time replaced their ruined Sabbath-home with the noble house in which they worship today.*
* The story is told by Rev. William E. Barton D.D. of Oak Park, Ill.
If the “New England Church” of Chicago did not sing this hymn at the dedication of their new 550 / 488 temple it was for some other reason than lack of gratitude—not to say reverence.
THE SABBATH.
The very essence of all song-worship pitched on this key-note is the ringing hymn of Watts—
—but it has vanished from the hymnals with its tune. Is it because profane people or thoughtless youth made a travesty of the two next lines—
THE TUNE.
Old “Portland” by Abraham Maxim, a fugue tune in F major of the canon style, expressed all the joy that a choir could put into music, though with more sound than skill. The choral is a relic among relics now, but it is a favorite one.
“Sweet is the Light of Sabbath Eve” by Edmeston; Stennett's “Another Six Days' Work is Done,” sung to “Spohr,” the joint tune of Louis Spohr and J.E. Gould; and Doddridge's “Thine Earthly Sabbath, Lord, We Love” retain a feeble hold among some congregations. And Hayward's “Welcome Delightful Morn,” to the impossible tune of 551 / 489 “Lischer,” survived unaccountably long in spite of its handicap. But special Sabbath hymns are out of fashion, those classed under that title taking an incidental place under the general head of “Worship.”
COMMUNION.
“BREAD OF HEAVEN, ON THEE WE FEED.”
This hymn of Josiah Conder, copying the physical metaphors of the 6th of John, is still occasionally used at the Lord's Supper.
The hymn is notable for the felicity with which it combines imagery and reality. Figure and fact are always in sight of each other.
Josiah Conder was born in London, September 17, 1789. He edited the Eclectic Review, and was the author of numerous prose works on historic and religious subjects. Rev. Garrett Horder says that more of his hymns are in common use now than those of any other except Watts and Doddridge. More in proportion to the relative number may be nearer the truth. In his lifetime Conder wrote about sixty hymns. He died Dec. 27, 1855.
552 / 490THE TUNE.
The tune “Corsica” sometimes sung to the words, though written by the famous Von Gluck, shows no sign of the genius of its author. Born at Weissenwang, near New Markt, Prussia, July 2, 1714, he spent his life in the service of operatic art, and is called “the father of the lyric drama,” but he paid little attention to sacred music. Queen Marie Antoinette was for a while his pupil. Died Nov. 25, 1787.
“Wilmot,” (from Von Weber) one of Mason's popular hymn-tune arrangements, is a melody with which the hymn is well acquainted. It has a fireside rhythm which old and young of the same circles take up naturally in song.
557 / opp 494“HERE, O MY LORD, I SEE THEE FACE TO FACE.”
Written in October, 1855, by Dr. Horatius Bonar. James Bonar, brother of the poet-preacher, just after the communion for that month, asked him to furnish a hymn for the communion record. It was the church custom to print a memorandum of each service at the Lord's table, with an appropriate hymn attached, and an original one would be thrice welcome. Horatius in a day or two sent this hymn:
THE TUNE.
“Morecambe” is an anonymous composition printed with the words by the Plymouth Hymnal editors. “Berlin” by Mendelssohn is better. The metre of Bonar's hymn is unusual, and melodies to fit it are not numerous, but for a meditative service it is worth a tune of its own.
“O THOU MY SOUL, FORGET NO MORE.”
The author of this hymn found in the Baptist hymnals, and often sung at the sacramental seasons of that denomination, was the first Hindoo convert to Christianity.
Krishna Pal, a native carpenter, in consequence of an accident, came under the care of Mr. Thomas, a missionary who had been a surgeon in the East Indies and was now an associate worker with William Carey. Mr. Thomas set the man's broken arm, and talked of Jesus to him and the surrounding crowd with so much tact and loving kindness that Krishna Pal was touched. He became a pupil of the missionaries; embraced Christ, and influenced his wife and daughter and his brother to accept his new faith.
554 / 492He alone, however, dared the bitter persecution of his caste, and presented himself for church-membership. He and Carey's son were baptized in the Ganges by Dr. Carey, Dec. 28, 1800, in the presence of the English Governor and an immense concourse of people representing four or five different religions.
Krishna Pal wrote several hymns. The one here noted was translated from the Bengalee by Dr. Marshman.
THE TUNE.
There is no scarcity of good long-metre tunes to suit the sentiment of this hymn. More commonly in the Baptist manuals its vocal mate is Bradbury's 555 / 493 “Rolland” or the sweet and serious Scotch melody of “Ward,” arranged by Mason. Best of all is “Hursley,” the beautiful Ritter-Monk choral set to “Sun of My Soul.”
NEW YEAR.
Two representative hymns of this class are John Newton's—