This hymn, beautiful in poetic imagery, is based on I Peter 5:7, “Casting all your care upon Him: for He careth for you.” When it first appeared, posthumously, in a book of hymns by the author, it bore the title, “God’s care a remedy for ours.”
Philip Doddridge was born in London, the youngest of a family of twenty, most of whom died in childhood. His father was an oil merchant. Before he could read, he had learned from his mother the stories of the Bible by the aid of Bible pictures on the Dutch tiles that covered a portion of the living room. Doddridge became a minister in the Congregational Church and devoted his life not only to preaching, but to writing books and teaching young men for the ministry. In 1751, he went to Lisbon to seek relief from tuberculosis but died there. He is the author of over 400 hymns, a few of which have survived, and are found in most hymn books. The Hymnary contains six of his compositions.
MUSIC. DENNIS. For comments on this tune see Hymn 41.
The hymn was written by Eliza Scudder, an American hymn writer of the middle nineteenth century. She was born in Boston, and died in Weston, Massachusetts. She was a niece of Edmund H. Sears, author of “It came upon a midnight clear” (No. 75). Miss Scudder was a person of deep religious insight and lived a quiet, retiring life. She published a book of religious verse, Hymns and Sonnets, in 1880. During most of her active life she was a Unitarian, but in later life joined the Episcopal Church.
MUSIC. BALLERMA (misspelled Balerma in some editions of the Hymnary) is a very simple tune, the second pair of lines varying only slightly from the first pair. The origin of the tune is uncertain. It is thought to be an old Spanish melody, arranged by F. H. Barthélémon.
For comments on Barthélémon see Hymn 2.
The original of this poem has thirteen stanzas, the first of which reads:
Souls of men! why will ye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?
The five stanzas selected for use here make an impressive and coherent hymn with no trace of the author’s strong Roman Catholic bias which characterizes nearly all of his hymns.
For comments on F. W. Faber see Hymn 44.
MUSIC. WELLESLEY was written, by request, for the graduation hymn of the Newton (Mass.) high school class of which Miss Tourjee was then a member. The original tune had a slight fault in voice leading which was corrected, with her permission, by Dr. Hamilton C. Macdougall, then Professor of Music at Wellesley College.
Lizzie S. Tourjee, 1858-1913, was a student at Wellesley College during the year 1877-78. In 1883, she married Frank Estabrook. Her father, Dr. Eben Tourjee, encouraged her in the writing of the tune, and named it for the new college nearby where she became a student for one year.
A prayer of invocation seeking the blessing and guidance of Almighty God. The authorship is anonymous.
MUSIC. INTEGER VITAE (or FLEMMING) was composed by Flemming for a chorus of men’s voices. It was set to “Integer Vitae,” an ode by Horace. The tune became a great favorite with college men not only in this country but also in England and Germany. It was introduced as a hymn tune through the hymnals of Dr. Charles R. Robinson, Songs of the Sanctuary, and Laudes Domine, and has since been widely used and accepted as one of our most satisfactory hymn tunes. It is one of the favorite tunes in the Gesangbuch mit Noten where it is set to the words, “Ach mein Herr Jesu.”
The composer, Frederick Ferdinand Flemming, M. D., 1778-1813, received his training in medicine and was a successful practitioner in Berlin. He is known to posterity, however, as a composer of part songs for men’s choruses, and more particularly as the composer of this tune.
There is no basis, according to most hymnologists, for the story that this hymn was written after Cowper was mysteriously prevented from committing suicide by drowning. The hymn was published by John Newton in the Olney Hymns, 1779, and rapidly became popular. It is still found in nearly all the hymnals. Its original title was “Light shining out of darkness.” Its central thought is that God is working His sovereign will even in the mystery and perplexity of human life, bringing light, not after darkness, but out of darkness.
William Cowper, 1731-1800, was the greatest English poet of his age. He had been trained for the law and was called to the bar at the age of twenty-three but had to retire on account of ill health. He lost his mental balance and became deeply melancholic, a misfortune which is attributed to cruelty received at the hands of older and stronger lads while he attended preparatory school. After treatment in a private asylum, and living for a time in the home of Rev. Morley Unwin, he moved to Olney where his devoted friend, the Rev. John Newton was curate. Here he assisted Newton in his parochial and evangelistic work and collaborated with him in the production of what became known as the Olney Hymns. In spite of efforts at literary work, his depression of spirit returned and never left him, except for brief intervals, until his death in 1800.
MUSIC. DUNDEE (or FRENCH) is one of the twelve Common Tunes appearing in the Scottish Psalter, The CL Psalms of David &, Edinburgh, 1615, where it is named “French Tune.” Its first appearance in an English Psalter is in Ravencroft’s Whole Book of Psalms, 1621, where it is called “Dundy.” It is one of the best known of the psalm tunes and its smooth, flowing melody has enjoyed great popularity.
For comments on the Scottish Psalter see Hymn 575.
Based on Psalm 90:1-6: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations,” etc., this is Watt’s greatest hymn and one of the greatest in the English language. It is found in all English hymn books and has been translated into many languages. Its smoothness, simple dignity, and faithfulness to Scripture give it the marks of a true church hymn, and it has probably been chosen more than any other for use upon important occasions. It is an indispensable New Year’s hymn.
A press dispatch related how the hymn was used during the Second World War by a group of eleven doomed Norwegians as they faced a Nazi firing squad in the village of Selbu outside of Trondheim, Norway, for “general hostility” to German occupiers. “Despite the torture to which they had been subjected to earlier,” writes an eye-witness, “the group of prisoners, linked hand in hand, proudly and firmly faced their executioners. One of the men, Peter Morseth, who for years led the singing in the local church, read a short prayer and was joined by his companions in singing the hymn, ‘O God our help in ages past.’ Then the shots rang out.”
John Wesley printed the hymn in his Collection of Psalms and Hymns, 1734, altering the opening line from “Our God, our help,” to “O God, our help.”
For comments on Isaac Watts see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. ST. ANNE appeared anonymously, in two parts—treble and bass—in A Supplement to the New Version of Psalms by Dr. Brady and Mr. Tate. ... the sixth edition, corrected and much enlarged, 1708, where it was set to Psalm 42. It is attributed upon good authority to William Croft, 1678-1727, who was interested in the production of the Tate and Brady New Version. Croft is one of the greatest names in English musical history.
For further comments on Croft, see Hymn 6.
One of the fine metrical versions that have been made of the Twenty-third Psalm. It Is found in Montgomery’s Songs of Zion, being Imitations of Psalms, 1822. Another much-loved and widely used version of the same Psalm is that in the Scottish Psalter (See 579).
James Montgomery, greatest of Moravian hymn writers, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, near the birthplace of Robert Burns. His father became a minister in the Moravian Church and finally went as a missionary to the West Indies where both he and his wife died. After spending a part of his youth in precarious and doubtful ways of living, and failing in several business ventures, James became the editor of The Sheffield Register, a position he held with honor and distinction for thirty-one years. He was twice imprisoned for expressing liberal political views in his paper. He is classed by the literati as a minor English poet, but in the writing of hymns he ranks with Wesley, Watts, and Doddridge. Of his 400 hymns, 100 are still in use. Eleven of his hymns are found in the Hymnary, exceeded in number only by those of Hosmer, Wesley and Watts. All of Montgomery’s hymns show a marvelous knowledge of the Scriptures on the part of their author. He found in the Psalms an inexhaustible source of devotional material and made metrical versions of many of them.
MUSIC. POLAND. The tune is unique in the Hymnary in that the melody in the first three lines is found in the alto. To bring the melody out with sufficient clearness, the altos might well be reenforced by some sopranos, or men’s voices, or both.
Thomas Koschat, 1845-1914, was an Austrian composer and singer. While a student of natural science at Vienna University he sang in the Court Opera Chorus, and soon became its leader. In 1875, Koschat organized the Kärnthner Quintet which became famous for its singing of Carinthian folk songs. He is known for his harmonization of Carinthian melodies and original songs in their style, for which he wrote the texts.
A hymn on the omnipresence of God who reigns as Lord of life and cares for His children.
For comments on John Bowring see Hymn 55.
MUSIC. ILLA, a simple long-meter tune within easy compass of the voices, is by the American composer, Lowell Mason, 1792-1872, an exact contemporary of Bowring. Mason’s tunes were popular at first and then for a time they were frowned upon by some of the “highbrow” musicians but in late years are returning with new favor into the hymn books. Mason’s name appears 24 times in our collection.
For further comments on Mason see Hymn 12.
This delightful lyric is the result of John Milton’s paraphrasing of Psalm 136 when he was a boy of 15 years. The original has 26 stanzas. The Psalm tells the story of Israel’s history, ending each verse with the refrain, “For his mercy endureth forever.” The selections here are his renderings of verses 1, 2, 7, and 25. The closing stanza returns to verse 1.
John Milton, the poet, was born in London, the son of the John Milton, who had turned from the Roman Catholic Church to become a Protestant. The future poet went to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he received his B.A. in 1628 and M.A. in 1632. His short poems and paraphrases were written at an early age and constitute some of his best work. The second period of his literary career was given almost entirely to writings on political subjects for he lived in the day of the controversies which led to Civil War and the establishment of the Commonwealth in England. Milton joined Oliver Cromwell as his secretary for foreign tongues to the Council of State, a position he held until the eve of the Restoration, when he barely escaped the scaffold. For years he had suffered from poor eyesight and became totally blind in his forty-fourth year. The third period of his life, after the Restoration of the Monarchy, was lived in close retirement. During this time he produced his greatest writings: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes, all of them dictated to others. He ranks second only to Shakespeare among English poets. He translated 19 psalms into meter. Being the scholar’s rather than the people’s poet, he, however, had no great influence on hymnology. His version of Psalm 84 is found at No. 592.
MUSIC. INNOCENTS appeared, anonymously, in the Parish Choir, 1850, a publication issued by members of the Oxford Movement in England who went by the name of “The Society for Promoting Church Music.” The “Society” laid down the following principles for singing:
1. Congregational singing should be in unison.
2. The melody should be clearly marked.
3. The compass should be within the natural limits of the human voice.
4. Metrical psalmody should be confined to tunes in common time, as being more simple and solemn than triple time.
After three years of precarious existence, 1846-49, the Parish Choir was discontinued. INNOCENTS appeared at the end of Volume III amongst a number of old psalm tunes, appointed to be sung to a hymn for Innocents Day, hence the name. Lightwood attributes the tune to Joseph Smith, born in 1800, near Birmingham, England. Smith was not a professional musician but very fond of music, an excellent singer, and composer of many hymn tunes and other pieces. The editor of the Parish Choir altered the original to the present form. It made its way into Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861, and is now found in many modern hymn books.
A rendering of Psalm 72, made in 1821 for the Christmas worship of a Moravian settlement. The original has eight stanzas. Montgomery was greatly interested in missions and this hymn, generally esteemed his finest composition, is a good missionary hymn as well as a splendid one for the Advent season. Dr. Adam Clarke gave it wide publicity by publishing it in his famous Bible Commentary, 1822, at the end of his exposition of Psalm 72, adding this note:
I need not tell the intelligent reader that he has seized the spirit, and exhibited some of the principal beauties, of the Hebrew bard; though (to use his own words in a letter to me) his “hand trembled to touch the harp of Zion.” I take the liberty here to register a wish, which I have strongly expressed to himself, that he would favor the Church of God with a metrical version of the whole book.
It is interesting to compare this hymn with Isaac Watts’ rendering of the same psalm (341).
For comments on James Montgomery see Hymn 62.
MUSIC. WEBB, also known as “Morning Light,” was composed for a secular song, “’Tis dawn, the lark is singing,” and first published in Odeon: A Collection of Secular Melodies, by G. J. Webb and Lowell Mason, 1837. It first appeared as a hymn tune in The Wesleyan Psalmist, 1842, and later it was used for the hymn “The morning Light is breaking,” in books by Mason and Webb.
The composer, George James Webb, 1803-87, a member of the Swedenborgian Church, was born near Salisbury, England; studied theology and music; came to the United States and became associated with Lowell Mason in editing and publishing music books. He was married to Mason’s daughter, Mary. He played the organ at Old South Church, Boston, and was Professor of Secular Music in the Boston Academy of Music.
An Advent and missionary hymn, unique in that it consists of a dialog (between a watchman and a traveller). The hymn is based on Isaiah 21:11, 12: “Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.” The meaning of the passage is not evident from the context. Dr. C. S. Robinson describes the setting as follows:
The image it presents is singularly dramatic and picturesque. The scene is laid in the midst of the Babylonian Captivity. A lonely watchman is represented as standing on the ramparts of some tower along the defenses of the citadel. He seems to be anxiously looking for the issues of the siege leveled against it. The time is midnight. Calamity is over the land. The people are afflicted. Their enemies are pressing them hard. That solitary sentinel sadly remains at his post, peering into the unlit gloom, trying to discern signs of deliverance. But the heavens are starless, and the impenetrable clouds keep rolling on. Suddenly an unknown voice pierces the air. Whether in wailing sorrow or in bitter taunt, is not evident; but out of the stillness already grown oppressive breaks the question with repetitious pertinacity: “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” The sentinel waits through a moment of surprised meditation and then tranquilly answers: “The morning cometh and also the night; if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come.” Then the dialog lapses into silence again, and the night gathers its unbroken shadows deeper than ever.
For comments on John Bowring see Hymn 55.
MUSIC. WATCHMAN is by Lowell Mason who wrote the tune in 1830 in 3-4 time. He intended it as a duet between soprano and tenor, with the congregation repeating the last line of each stanza (the reply of the watchman). The tune also lends itself well to antiphonal singing.
For comments on Mason see Hymn 12.
Veni, veni, Emmanuel
captivum solve Israel,
qui gemit in exilio,
privatus Dei Filio.
Gaude, gaude; Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.
The hymn comes from the Latin, being a translation of the first of the seven greater Antiphons (short anthems-verses) sung in the Roman Church at Vespers on the seven days before Christmas. The refrain, “Rejoice, rejoice,” etc., added to the hymn during the 13th century, is the answer to the longing for Christ expressed in each stanza.
The translation of Stanza 1 is by John M. Neale, 1818-66, a Cambridge scholar and the most noted hymnologist and liturgist of his time. He was a minister and author of books on biblical and historical subjects, but his fame rests chiefly on his translations of Greek and Latin hymns. The Hymnary contains ten of his works.
The second and third stanzas were translated in 1916 by Henry Sloan Coffin, eminent Presbyterian minister, formerly of the Madison Avenue Church in New York City, and then for many years president of Union Theological Seminary. He is a recognized leader in contemporary American church life.
MUSIC. VENI EMMANUEL, written in the first Gregorian mode, is an adaptation by Thomas Helmore, in 1856, of a melody said to have been found in a French manuscript in Lisbon, which has since disappeared. The original is believed to have been a 12th century “Kyrie.” The harmony in the minor mode gives the tune its quaint flavor. It should be sung with spirit, in keeping with the joyful anticipation embodied in the words. It is effective with men’s voices singing the first part in unison, then all the voices in harmony on the refrain. The tune also lends itself to interesting effects in antiphonal singing.
Written in 1915, while World War I was raging in Europe and the clouds were gathering thick over the United States. The hymn is an appeal for the Spirit of Christ to bring peace and light to a troubled world. It was composed while the author, a Moravian, was a student at the Divinity School of Harvard University. It was the custom at that institution to have students of the School submit original compositions of hymns, one of which would be selected to be sung at the annual Christmas service of the school. This hymn was selected for the Christmas of 1915.
Douglas LeTell Rights, born in Winston-Salem, N. C., received his A. B. degree from the University of North Carolina and then prepared for the ministry at the Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa., and at Harvard University. A member of the Moravian Church, anciently called the Unitas Fratrum, his first pastorate was at the First Moravian Church, Greensboro, N. C., 1916-18. In 1918-19, he was chaplain in the army in World War I. Since 1919, he has been pastor of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, N. C. Rights is the author of A Voyage Down the Yadkin-Great Peedee River, 1928, and has written numerous articles on historical and archaeological subjects pertaining to his native state. His latest book is the American Indian in North Carolina.
MUSIC. EBELING. For comments on the composer of this tune, Johann Georg Ebeling, 1620-76, see Hymn 555.
A dignified, yet stirring Advent hymn, based on Haggai 2:7: “The desire of all nations shall come.” One of the first hymns of Wesley, it appeared in a small book of 24 pages. Hymns for the Nativity of our Lord, published in 1744. It is found in nearly all the modern hymn books in England and America.
For comments on Charles Wesley see Hymn 6.
MUSIC. HYFRYDOL is a Welsh tune composed by Rowland Hugh Prichard, 1811-87, of Bala, Wales, who was active in the church as song leader, soloist, and composer of tunes. This tune is a composition of his youth, while he was still under twenty. It is characterized by its length, smoothness, and utter simplicity, the whole melody moving throughout, except for one note, within the compass of the fifth.
This hymn, which has such an important place in the yearly celebration of the Nativity, is a free rendering of the latter part of Psalm 98: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.” Watts entitled it, “Messiah’s Coming and Kingdom.” His effort to put the New Testament gospel into the Psalm resulted in a great hymn of the Advent and Nativity, though his free rendering nearly lost sight of the Psalm itself. He feels all nature thrilling with joy at the Saviour’s birth.
For comments on Isaac Watts see Hymn 11.
MUSIC. ANTIOCH is an arrangement, credited by some authorities to Lowell Mason, from Handel’s Messiah. The opening phrase resembles the first bar of the chorus, “Lift up your heads,” and the four measures set to “and heaven and nature sing” are reminiscent of the introduction to the tenor recitative, “Comfort ye my people.” It is a stirring tune well fitted to the words. It may be sung antiphonally to good effect, the congregation singing lines 1 and 2 (1st score), the choir, lines 3 and 4 (2d and 3d scores), and both choir and congregation the refrain (last score).
From a longer poem of 48 lines, written about 1749, by Dr. John Byrom for his daughter Dolly who, when asked what she would like to have for a Christmas present, replied, “Please write me a poem.” On Christmas morning she found on her plate at the breakfast table a sheet of paper on which was written this poem, entitled, “Christmas Day. For Dolly.” It is based on Luke 2.
John Byrom was born in Manchester, England, graduated from Cambridge, studied medicine but gave up its practice in order to teach a system of shorthand he himself had invented, and which became the chief system of shorthand in his time. He was a friend of Charles and John Wesley and taught them shorthand, which Charles especially put to good use in dashing down hymns as they flashed into his mind. Byrom was a man of learning and piety and also was given to wit and humor. He coined the phrase “tweedledum and tweedledee” when the friends of Handel and Buononcini were debating the relative merits of the two composers:
Some say, compared to Buononcini
That Mynheer Handel is a ninny.
Others aver that he to Handel
Is scarcely fit to hold a candle.
Strange all this difference should be
Twixt tweedledum and tweedledee.
MUSIC. YORKSHIRE was composed by a musician and organist, John Wainwright, of whom little is known. He is remembered principally by this tune. Musically and emotionally, the tune is completely satisfactory and well deserves its great popularity. It has been a favorite among English speaking people for nearly a century.
A hymn of Christmas peace.
The author, Frederic L. Hosmer, one of America’s foremost hymn writers, was born in Framingham, Mass., and died in Berkeley, Calif. He was educated at Harvard University and Divinity School and served as minister of Unitarian churches in Northboro, Mass., Quincy, Ill., Cleveland, O., St. Louis, Mo., and Berkeley, Calif. At least 35 of his hymns have come into more or less use in this country and in England. The Hymnary includes thirteen, a larger number than of any other writer except Wesley and Watts.
MUSIC. DORKING, an English folk tune of anonymous composition, as all folk tunes are, has characteristic grace of melody and strength of rhythm.
This carol is the work of Nahum Tate, poet laureate and co-author with Nicholas Brady of the New Version of the psalms in meter, to which was added a supplement in 1770 containing this hymn. The quaint and picturesque paraphrase of Luke 2:9-11, closing with the doxology, was one of the few hymns permitted to be sung in the English churches along with the metrical psalms. It became very popular and has been translated into the Latin and nearly all the living languages. The words have been set to many tunes.
For comments on Nahum Tate, see Hymn 18.
MUSIC. CHRISTMAS is an adaptation of a melody from Handel’s opera, Siroe. Geo. F. Handel was born in Prussia in 1685 (the same year as J. S. Bach) and died in 1759. He lived in England 50 years and became a naturalized English citizen. He wrote many forms of music but is chiefly known and loved for his oratorio, The Messiah.
MUSIC. ST. MARTIN’S (74), by William Tans’ur, is less joyful than “Christmas,” but the tune fits the words perfectly. Its quiet, mystic melody suggests the serenity of the Judean hillside where shepherds watched their flocks.
William Tans’ur, 1706-85, was the son of a laborer, whose name is spelled “Tanzer” in the church register. He became a teacher of psalmody, moved from town to town to conduct singing classes, and did much to improve psalm-singing in the Church of England. He published a number of books on music. An eccentric man, given to self-advertisement, he described his first volume The Harmony of Sion, 1734, as “The most curiosest Book that ever was published.”
Published by the Christian Register in 1860, the hymn quickly attained wide popularity. Edmund H. Sears was minister of a Unitarian Church at Wayland, Mass. He wrote, “Though I was educated in the Unitarian denomination, I believe and preach the divinity of Christ.” A careful reading of the hymn reveals a fine social message. The author was writing at a time of extraordinary unrest throughout the world, caused in America by the passing of the Fugitive Slave Law, the great forty-niner gold rush to California, and in Europe by the aftermath of the revolution in France and Germany. In the stillness of the first Christmas night, the author finds a message of healing for our restlessness, and with Isaiah looks forward to a golden age when peace shall reign on earth. But when will that time come? The Civil War, tragic irony, followed in ten years! The hope, however, abides and is valid, for peace is in the ultimate plan of God.
MUSIC. CAROL was composed by Richard Storrs Willis, brother of the American poet, N. P. Willis. It is a graceful, popular tune, and is often set to “While shepherds watched their flock by night,” for which it is admirably adapted.
“Noel” is a French word which came to mean several things—a “song of the Birthday,” or “Christmas,” or “Carol.” A carol is a religious song telling the story of a place or person or event. It is less formal and solemn than an ordinary church hymn and was originally intended to be sung outside rather than within the church walls. The words and music of this carol are traditional, which means that no one knows who composed them or when. They are known to have existed as early as the 17th century. It is a very popular carol even though not quite true to the gospel account in verse 2, for it was the wise men, not the shepherds, that saw the star. Since most of the words have to do with the coming of the wise men, the carol is fully as suitable for Epiphany as for Christmas.
MUSIC. The tune THE FIRST NOEL is one of the best-known of all English carol airs, especially in the west of England.
The poem was published in the Presbyterian about 1939. No specific information is at hand concerning the author. Bixel, composer of the music, is under the impression that E. Royce was a missionary to China who sent this poem to her church paper for publication.
MUSIC. SILENT was composed for this carol by James W. Bixel, who was born at Bluffton, Ohio, November 7, 1913. After graduating from Bluffton College, Bixel studied music in Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, where he received his Master of Music degree in composition. He taught music in the public schools of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and then spent nearly four years in Civilian Public Service. In the fall of 1947 he became a teacher of harmony and piano in the music department of Bethel College. The tune, begun and completed in one evening, has the distinction of being the only one in the Hymnary composed by a Mennonite. Which leads one to observe that our hymns and tunes, like many other elements in our culture, are “ours” by appreciation and use rather than by invention or creation. It may be the future will find us less “practical” minded than heretofore and that poetic and musical gifts will yet come to fruition to make our contribution to the stream of hymns and tunes that have enriched the worship of the Visible Church of all places and ages.
One of numerous carols written by William Dix about 1865.
William Chatterton Dix was the son of a Bristol surgeon. He was educated for a business career and became the manager of a marine insurance company in Glasgow. He maintained, however, his literary interests and wrote the Life of Chatterton, the poet; a book of Pen Pictures of Popular English Preachers; and other works, including several volumes of devotional poetry. He had been ill in bed on Epiphany Day, and after reading the Gospel for the day, he wrote this hymn, finishing it by evening. It became very popular and is found in nearly all English hymnals. The accuracy of the second verse may be questioned—“To that lowly manger bed.” For it is not likely that the babe Jesus was still in the manger when the wise men appeared.
MUSIC. CHRIST THE KING, known in many hymnals as “Greensleeves,” is an old English melody of the 17th century, mentioned somewhere by Shakespeare. It is a joyous tune which may be sung as a solo, or with the sopranos singing the words of the stanzas, while the other parts hum the accompaniment, then all parts singing the refrain in harmony or in unison.
A shepherd carol from Bohemia.
The words and music are traditional.
MUSIC. The tune was arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes, b. 1887, American organist and composer who received his musical education at Yale and in Paris. He now lives at Santa Monica, California. His personal counsel was solicited and secured in the compilation and editing of the Hymnary.
Adeste, fideles,
Laeti triumphantes;
Venite, venite in Bethlehem;
Natum videte
Regem Angelorum:
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
Deum de Deo;
Lumen de Lumine,
Gestant puellae viscera
Deum Verum,
Genitum, non factum:
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
Ergo Qui natus
Die hodierna,
Iesu, Tibi sit gloria:
Patris Aeterni
Verbum Caro factum!
Venite, adoremus Dominum.
A priceless legacy from the Latin Church and one of the most popular of Christmas hymns. It has been translated into at least 125 languages. The origin of the text and tune is obscure. The original poem may have been German or French of the 17th or 18th century.
From the lengthy (and on the whole profitless) discussions of the possible origins of the hymn, it may be concluded that the hymn and tune came into use together, in the services of the Roman Church, during the first part of the 18th century; that they were circulated first in manuscript form and later appeared in print, the earliest known book containing them being a small volume, An Essay on the Church Plain Chant, published in London, 1782. Nothing definite can be stated as to the authors of either words or music.
The translation was made in 1841 by Frederick Oakeley, 1802-80, Church of England minister who later joined the Roman Catholics.
MUSIC. ADESTE FIDELES belongs by long association to this hymn, its name being derived from the first words of the Latin. It is also widely used with “How firm a foundation.” The present arrangement is credited to Vincent Novello, organist in the Portuguese Chapel in London about 1785.
A graceful lyric presenting to the imagination a series of pictures—the Angels, the Shepherds, the Wise Men, and the Saints who like Simeon and Anna, were waiting for the consolation of Israel. The fourth verse is reminiscent of the prophetic words of Malachi: “The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in: behold he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts” (3:1).
It is widely used for the Christmas season.
For comments on James Montgomery see Hymn 62.
MUSIC. REGENT SQUARE is a jubilant, vigorous tune, composed for the English Presbyterian Hymnal of 1867 in which it was set to Bonar’s hymn, “Glory be to God the Father.”
The composer, Henry Smart, 1813-79, studied law for four years and then decided to become a musician. Though he had little formal musical training, he became a great organist, composer, and conductor. He became totally blind by 1865, but, being a capable improviser, and possessing a keen memory, he was able to continue as an organist. He did much for the cause of good music in the church.
For further comments on Smart see Hymn 46.
A popular carol of French origin, sung first in England by the Westminster Abbey Choir and for that reason it is sometimes called the “Westminster Carol.”
No information has been traced concerning Bishop Chadwick.
MUSIC. GLORIA is a traditional melody of anonymous composition. The tune has been variously harmonized. This version is found in the St. Basil’s Hymnal, compiled by the Basilian Fathers, and published in Chicago, 1918 (Revised Ed.).
The most loved and most widely used of all Christmas carols.
It was composed December 24, 1818, by Joseph Mohr, 1792-1848, assistant Catholic priest in an obscure German village, Oberndorf, near Salzburg, Austria. At a Christmas celebration in the schoolhouse Mohr withdrew for a time, then returned with a folded sheet of paper on which this carol was written. He handed it to his friend, Franz Gruber, 1787-1863, schoolmaster, song writer, and organist, as a Christmas gift. Gruber composed the tune for it the same evening. The author and composer sang it together, the latter accompanying on the guitar, and a choir of girls from the village joining in the melody. The hymn and the tune became immensely popular in Germany and Austria even before they appeared in print, through their use by wandering Tyrolese singers. Today the carol is sung in all Christian lands. It was a favorite of the great opera singer Madame Ernestine Schumann-Heink, and she sang it on many of her concert appearances.
MUSIC. STILLE NACHT. In keeping with German custom, the tune is named after the first line of the hymn for which it was written.
A plaque in the schoolhouse at Oberndorf bears the following inscription:
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht!
Wer hat dich, O Lied, gemacht?
Mohr hat dich so schoen erdacht,
Gruber zu Gehoer gebracht,
Priester und Lehrer vereint.