Showing posts with label Hanson Place (tune). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hanson Place (tune). Show all posts
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Even Children the Anthem Ring (Day Four)
Peace upon earth! the angels sang,
Good will unto all! the chorus rang,
Glory to God! the Christ has come,
A bright star shines in the clear blue dome.
Refrain
Joyously sing, praises we bring,
Joyously sing, praises we bring!
Loud hallelujahs to Christ we sing!
Peace upon earth! ’tis sounding still,
Glory unto God, to all good will!
Bethlehem’s song, ’tis caught from far,
And lifted up, to that glowing star.
Refrain
Jesus has come! it echoes wide,
Thro’ valley and plain, on mountainside;
But not alone the angels sing,
For even children the anthem ring.
Refrain
Yes! let them sing, for Christ has laid
His hand with a blessing on their head;
Sweeter to him than angels’ tones
Are songs that come from the little ones.
Refrain
Julia A. Mathews, 1871
Tune: PEACE UPON EARTH (8.8.8.9. with refrain)
Robert Lowry, 1871
One genre that has all but disappeared in our modern Yuletide celebrations is the Christmas gospel song, though I have excavated a few in our two previous Twelve Days of Christmas outings (such as the one at the Seven Year link below), and there's at least one more coming up this season. Gospel songs, also known as Sunday School songs, were the contemporary Christian music of their day (peaking between 1870 and 1920 or so) and very few of the thousands of pieces written and published are still sung today, let alone those on the theme of Christ's birth.
Robert Lowry, who wrote both words and music at various times, does have some familiar songs that we still sing today, such as: Shall we gather at the river and Marching to Zion but I'd imagine that it's been many years since anyone sang this Christmas song which was published in his collection Pure Gold for the Sunday School (1871). He did manage to contribute one surviving gospel song to the Easter repertory: Low in the grave you lay.
Seven Years Ago: Peaceful the wondrous night
One Year Ago: Calm on the listening ear of night
Sunday, August 17, 2008
River of the Water of Life

On a hot summer day in Brooklyn NY, pastor Robert Lowry of the Hanson Place Baptist Church found himself thinking about a Scripture passage from the opening of Revelation 22: a pure river of the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God. Just reflecting on that image was refreshing, and he soon had the first line of a hymn, "Shall we gather at the river," followed quickly by the response in the refrain, "Yes, we'll gather..." The rest of the verses flowed easily from his imagination (unavoidable pun).
Shall we gather at the river,
Where bright angel feet have trod,
With its crystal tide forever
Flowing by the throne of God?
Refrain
Yes, we’ll gather at the river,
The beautiful, the beautiful river;
Gather with the saints at the river
That flows by the throne of God.
On the margin of the river,
Washing up its silver spray,
We will walk and worship ever,
All the happy golden day.
Refrain
Ere we reach the shining river,
Lay we every burden down;
Grace our spirits will deliver,
And provide a robe and crown.
Refrain
Soon we’ll reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage will cease;
Soon our happy hearts will quiver
With the melody of peace.
Refrain
Robert Lowry, 1864
Tune: HANSON PLACE (8.7.8.7. with refrain)
Robert Lowry, 1864
Countless people have since found refreshment of one sort or another thanks to Lowry's hymn. There's a fifth verse given (inserted between the third and fourth verses above) at the Cyber Hymnal site that I've never seen before and I can't decide if I like it enough to include it or not.
At the smiling of the river,
Mirror of the Savior’s face,
Saints, whom death will never sever,
Lift their songs of saving grace.
Refrain
This hymn gained even wider exposure on the concert stage when composer Aaron Copland wrote a solo setting for it as part of his Old American Songs series. Many people who have heard it sung by concert singers such as William Warfield (who sang the premiere), Marilyn Horne, or Samuel Ramey have never sung it themselves.
The building below was the Hanson Place Baptist Church from 1860 to 1963. It is now the Hanson Place Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

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