Gushing From the Rock Before Me

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) is definitely in the running to be the most well-known woman to write texts for congregational singing, even today when the musical style that accompanied most of her songs is somewhat out of fashion in many places.

Several contemporary composers around the world have written new tunes for some of her texts, and more than one recording has been made (though this is the only one that seems to be readily available). Since most of her songs were written in the contemporaneous gospel song/Sunday School style, including a refrain that helped with memorization, they don't generally match well to existing tunes. 

There are exceptions. I've always thought that this is one of her most accomplished texts (still unused here in the past nine years), and since it does not include the usual refrain, it could be paired with a more conventional hymn tune, and sung in places that might never consider singing one of her songs.

All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt his tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Christ to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread;
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me
O the fullness of his love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my heav'nly home above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages—
Jesus led me all the way.

Fanny Crosby, 1875; alt.
Tune: WEISSE FLAGGEN (8.7.8.7.D.)
Tochter Sion, 1741

This hardly replaces the original setting by Robert Lowry, which will continue to be sung. However, this text could also work with HYFRYDOL, IN BABILONE, HOLY MANNA, NETTLETON, and other familiar tunes.

The gravestone above (erected in 1955 at her burial site) refers to Crosby's "more than 3000 hymns and poems," which is true as far as it goes, but the real number could be more than twice as many, especially when her unpublished texts are included.

Of course, her songs are still usually sung in their original form, not only as the occasional selection in Sunday worship, but also at special events, such as a Fanny Crosby hymn sing recently held in her home town of Southeast, New York, sponsored by the local historical society. Sometimes churches will use one writer's texts for an entire service, and today's service at MCC of the Coachella Valley in California includes all Crosby songs. Many people would still happily sing the playful refrain:

Pastor, Pastor, hear my irate cry --
When you pick the hymns for Sunday,
Don't pass Fanny by!

(Scroll down at this link for the whole text.)

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

William Howard Doane

William Howard Doane, who was born on this date in 1832, has often been described in hymn histories as an enthusiastic amateur, but the hundreds of gospel song melodies he composed have been sung by many thousands of people over the last 150 years.  He worked for more than forty years in the manufacturing field, but continued composing and editing collections of gospel and Sunday school songs in his spare time.

He composed his first music at age sixteen, and by the age of twenty he was the conductor of the Norwich Harmonic Society in Connecticut.  The first collection he compiled, Sabbath School Gems, was published in 1862, but by that time he had already been employed for more than a decade by the J. A. Fay Company, and had been the managing partner of the firm for two years.

A later collection, Pure Gold for the Sunday School (1871), which he edited with Robert Lowry, contained this popular song, which is probably still remembered by many.

Take the name of Jesus with you,
Through your sorrow and your woe,
It will joy and comfort give you;
Take it then, where’er you go.

Refrain

Precious name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heav’n.
Precious name, O how sweet!
Hope of earth and joy of heav’n.

Take the name of Jesus ever,
As a shield from every care;
If temptations round you gather,
Breathe that holy name in prayer.

Refrain

O the precious name of Jesus!
How it thrills our souls with joy,
When his loving arms receive us,
Blissful songs our tongues employ!

Refrain

Lydia Baxter, 1870; alt.

Tune: PRECIOUS NAME (8.7.8.7. with refrain)

William H. Doane, 1871

Many of Doane's most well-known songs were written to texts by Fanny Crosby, but he composed tunes for many other writers, and even wrote a number of texts himself.  He also wrote a series of Christmas cantatas which were widely sung, and some of these were secular, including one called Santa Claus (1879).

Some of Doane's papers, including correspondence with other gospel song writers and composers, are preserved at the Billy Graham Center in Wheaton, IL

Four Years Ago: William Howard Doane

Three Years Ago:  William Howard Doane

Now You Live Forever

Low in the grave you lay,
Jesus, my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus, my Love!

Refrain
Up from the grave you arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er your foes,
You arose a victor from the grave's domain,
Now you live forever, with the saints to reign.
You arose! You arose!
Hallelujah! You arose!

Vainly they watch your bed,
Jesus, my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead,
Jesus, my Life!
Refrain

Death cannot keep its prey,
Jesus, my Savior;
You tore the bars away,
Jesus, my Lord!
Refrain

Robert Lowry, 1874; alt.
Tune: CHRIST AROSE (6.5.6.4. with refrain)

The sound file doesn't quite capture the usual distinction between the short stanzas, generally played and sung quite slowly and heavily, in contrast to the longer, quicker joyful refrain.

Baptist minister Robert Lowry reportedly wrote this song during the Easter season of 1874, and it was published the following year in Brightest and Best, a collection he helped compile in his caopacity as musical editor at Biglow & Main, which was becoming the largest publisher of Sunday school music and gospel songs in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

This Easter song went on to many other nondenominational songbooks as well as denominational hymnals around the world, well into the twentieth century and beyond, including the British Methodist Hymn-Book (1933) and (a late arrival) in the US Methodist Hymnal of 1964. Even more recently it has been included in the Congregational Hymns for a Pilgrim People (2007) and the Baptist Celebrating Grace (2010). The Guide to United States Popular Culture (2001) even lists it as one of the most popular Easter songs, alongside Irving Berlin's Easter Parade (!) -- I'd like to see which one would really come out on top if you asked a hundred people.


Three Years Ago: Julian of Norwich

Three Years Ago: Mother's Day

Fanny Crosby

The popular and prolific song writer Frances Jane Crosby (March 24, 1820 - February 12, 1915) was born in the town of South East, NY. Her mother, Mercy, was widowed shortly thereafter, and went to work as a maid to support the family, leaving the infant Fanny in the care of her grandmother, Eunice. She then suffered an eye infection that was treated incorrectly, which led to blindness.

Her grandmother initially oversaw her education at home, and as a child she had memorized the first four books of the Old Testament by the time she was ten. Later, in 1834, she continued her education at the New York Institute for the Blind (still in operation today); after graduating, she returned there as a teacher of English, rhetoric, and American history.

Long before she began writing sacred texts for Sunday school music in 1864, she had already published books of poetry, beginning in 1844, and had collaborated on secular songs and longer works with composers such as George Root (their 1852 cantata, The Flower Queen, can now be seen online) and Lowell Mason.

Later, of course, her gospel songs came to be numbered in the thousands, appearing in hundreds of hymnals and songbooks in the last third of the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth. In the books of her primary publisher, Biglow & Main, usually around half of the the songs were by Crosby, often under her numerous pseudonyms. Crosby's own records showed that she wrote 5959 texts for Biglow & Main alone, and it's not known how many were written for other publishers. It's estimated that there may have been a few thousand texts written by Fanny that were never published. In 1977, Hope Publishing Company (the successor to Biglow & Main) published 120 of these (a small fraction!) as Fanny Crosby Speaks Again, edited by Donald P. Hustad.

This is one of those texts which was not published in Crosby's lifetime. Hope Publishing has graciously allowed the reprinting of those texts in their 1977 collection even though under current copyright law, they are not in the public domain.

O Love divine, amazing Love,

That brought to earth from heav'n above,

The Son of God for us to die,

That we might dwell with him on high.

For us the crown of thorns he bore,

For us the robe of scorn he wore,

He conquered death and rent the grave,

And lives again our souls to save.

O wanderer, come, on him believe,

His offered grace by faith receive;

Awake, arise, and hear him call,

The feast is spread -- there's room for all!

Fanny Crosby, 1905

Tune: LOUVAN (L.M.)

Virgil C. Taylor, 1850

Words Copyright © 1977 by Hope Publishing Company

Used by permission.

LOUVAN is a tune that Fanny Crosby would probably have known; it appeared in many hymnals of her day (and still a few today).

An early account of Crosby's life was written by Robert Lowry and published in her 1897 poetry collection Bells at Evening (which was dedicated "to all who sing my hymns"). In addition to the outline of her life, he gives some details about the working relationships between her several of the composers who wrote tunes for her texts. Of her many, many songs, he writes:

The time has not yet come when Fanny Crosby's place among the hymn writers of Christendom may be determined, but it is safe to say that, of the many hymns which have come up from the throbbings of her warm heart, there will be found in the ultimate sifting no inconsiderable number which the world will not willingly let die.

Two Years Ago: Fanny Crosby

One Year Ago: Fanny Crosby

William Orcutt Cushing

Song writer William Orcutt Cushing was born today in 1823 in Hingham, Massachusetts. His parents were Unitarians, but Cushing was eventually ordained in the Christian Church, which we know today as the Disciples of Christ. He served several different congregations all over New York state.

Following the death of his wife in 1870, he developed what nearly all sources call "creeping paralysis," which caused him to lose his voice. Now unable to preach, his pastoral career was at an end. Over the years he had written a few Sunday school songs for use in his churches, and he now turned his efforts more fully toward gospel song writing. His texts, which eventually numbered about 300, were set to music by several of the best-known composers of his time, including Robert Lowry, George Root, and Ira Sankey.

This song originally appeared in Welcome Tidings (1877) with a tune by Robert Lowry, who was also one of the editors of the songbook, but I like it better with this later tune by Daniel B. Towner.

Cheer, O cheer, ye heirs of Zion!
Weary days will soon be past;
Joy’s bright banner waving o’er us
Tells that heav’n is won at last.
On that fair, celestial morning,
Comes no cloud of grief or pain;
In your peaceful tents abiding,
Sorrow ne’er shall come again.

Cheer, O cheer, the morn is breaking!
Gloomy night will disappear;
Christ will come with sweet awaking;
Happier days will soon be here;
Long the pilgrim path we’ve wandered,
Long we’ve hoped ’mid doubt and fear,
Hard we’ve pressed thro’ many a trial --
Now the day of peace is here.

Cheer, O cheer, the morn is breaking!
Bright its beams of promise rise;
Sing, O sing, ye heirs of Zion!
Hear the welcome from the skies:
Come, ye blessèd of creation,
Dwell no more ’mid doubts and fears;
Join the throngs of saints and angels,
Crownèd with immortal years.

William O. Cushing, 1877; alt.
Tune: TOWNER (8.7.8.7.D.)
Daniel B. Towner, 1913


Two Years Ago: A year of precious blessings

One Year Ago: John Robson Sweney

William Fisk Sherwin

William Fisk Sherwin was born today in 1826, in Buckland, Massachusetts. He is primarily known today for only two tunes which were written for two long-lasting hymns by Mary Lathbury: Break thou the bread of life and Day is dying in the west. Like so many of his contemporaries, however, he produced many other songs and hymns that are forgotten.

He studied music with Lowell Mason and later became an instructor at the New England Conservatory of Music. He was active in Sunday school work, teaching and leading special assemblies throughout New York and New England. In later years he was remembered by George C. Stebbins in Reminiscences and Gospel Song Stories (1924):

I remember well his singing very effectively and artistically the old classic among sacred songs Flee as a bird to your mountain. His manner of rendering and his well trained and sympathetic voice made a lasting impression upon me.

Sherwin was a friend of the Methodist Bishop John Heyl Vincent, who founded a camp in 1874 for Sunday school teachers on the shores of Lake Chautauqua in western New York and asked Sherwin to serve as the camp's music director. This camp soon developed into the prestigious Chautauqua Institution, and Sherwin maintained his connection to it for many years. Many of his compositions, not just those with Lathbury, were popularized here first.

Sherwin was also a musical editor at the Century Company and at Biglow & Main, who published many of his songs. One of his collections there, co-edited with Robert Lowry and William H. Doane, was titled Chautauqua Carols (1878) and was used both at the Institute and thoughout the country where numerous "tent chautauquas" sprang up in connection with the original. Though mostly known today as a composer, Sherwin did write many of his own texts for his tunes as well, such as this one.

Grander than ocean’s story,
Or songs of forest trees;
Purer than breath of morning,
Or evening’s gentle breeze;
Clearer than mountain echoes
Ring out from peaks above,
Rolls on the glorious anthem
Of God’s eternal love.

Dearer than any friendship
Our truest comrades show;
Stronger than all the yearning
A mother’s heart may know;
Deeper than earth’s foundations,
And far above all thought;
Broader than heav’n’s high arches—
The love that Christ has brought.

Richer than all earth’s treasures,
The wealth my soul receives;
Brighter than royal jewels,
The crown that Jesus gives;
Wondrous the condescension,
And grace beyond degree!
I would be ever singing
The love of Christ to me.

William F. Sherwin, 19th c.
GOD'S LOVE (7.6.7.6.D.)

Robert Lowry

The Reverend Robert Lowry was born today in Philadelphia in 1826. His parents were Presbyterians, but at age eighteen he joined a Baptist church, and following his 1854 graduation from the University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell University) he was ordained as a Baptist minister, going on to lead churches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York over the rest of his life.

He was interested in music from an early age, but as a pastor he became interested in the use of music in the church, especially the Sunday school music that was becoming popular in the mid-nineteenth century (the precursor to gospel songs as we know them). He began to write and compose his own songs, which soon became quite successful. Often he wrote both words and music, such as Shall we gather at the river, probably his most popular song, but sometimes he wrote the tune only, or in the case of Marching to Zion, adapted an older text (by Isaac Watts, in this case) into a gospel song by adding a refrain and a compelling melody.

Following the 1868 death of William B. Bradbury, who had been the leading proponent of Sunday school music development, his publishing company hired Lowry to replace him as editor. At first, Lowry was not sure he was qualified, but he undertook more musical study and eventually edited or co-edited (often with William Howard Doane) more than twenty song collections. His own body of work expanded greatly; he continued to write songs of his own and tunes in collaboration with most of the well-known text writers of the day. The company, now known as Biglow & Main, solidified its position as the most successful publisher of Sunday school music and gospel songs for the rest of the nineteenth century.

Looking though his songs for something to present today I came upon this one, for which he originally wrote both words and music for the collection Royal Diadem for the Sunday School (1873). Since Lowry's tune is not available as a sound file, I've matched the text to this older hymn tune which suits it well.

My soul shall rest in hope
Rejoicing in your love
Who, in my sorrow, gives me joy
And lifts my soul above.

My soul shall rest in hope
And live in faith divine,
Supremely blessed, which I can feel,
Your saving love is mine.

My soul shall rest in hope,
Though mortal strength may fail,
Your gentle hand that leads me now
Will guide me through the vale.

My soul shall rest in hope
Until you bid me rise
To see your face and sing your praise
Beyond the earthly skies.

My soul shall rest in hope
Rejoicing in your love
Who, in my sorrow, gives me joy
And lifts my soul above.

Robert Lowry, 1873; alt.
Tune: CAMBRIDGE (S.M.)
Ralph Harrison, 1784
arr. Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1872

In researching Lowry for this entry, I came upon the following, which I hope you will enjoy. Apparently Shall we gather by the river so impressed Canadian Dr. D. Morrison of Ontario that he translated it into Latin (for what purpose I can only imagine). The first stanza, all that I could unearth, goes like this:

Fluvione colligemus

Qua'sint seraphim sancti,

Fluvio amœna cujus

Fons est throno Domini?

Two Years Ago: Gregory the Great

One Year Ago: Paul Gerhardt

Phoebe Palmer Knapp

I've written about composer Phoebe Palmer Knapp (March 9. 1838 - July 10, 1908) before, and her most famous tune, matched to Fanny Crosby's Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. She probably wrote her first tunes to accompany the hymns written by her mother, Phoebe Worrall Palmer, but she went on to write tunes for texts by many other gospel song writers, in addition to her long friendship and collaboration with Crosby.

She and her husband Joseph (one of the founders of the Metropolitan Life insurance company) were very active in the Sunday School of their Methodist church, St. John's in Brooklyn, where Phoebe also played the organ. In 1869, she compiled and published a collection of Sunday School music titled Notes of Joy, and the music to 94 of the 172 selections was composed by her. The introduction was written by Methodist Bishop Matthew Simpson, who wrote of Knapp's efforts:

These "Notes of Joy" were prompted partly by a mother's love as she sang to her own dear children, partly for her class in the Sunday School which she loved to instruct, and partly for the circle of friends who gathered around the mercy-seat for prayer (probably a reference to the elder Phoebe's prayer meetings). They have been listened to and admired, and having been repeatedly urged by many friends, she has at length committed them to the Press.

In addition to songs and service music by Knapp, Notes of Joy also contains the work of Phoebe Palmer, Fanny Crosby and her husband Alexander Van Alstyne (they wrote the opening song, from which the collection took its name) as well as prominent writers and composers such as Robert Lowry, Josephine Pollard, Hubert P. Main, and Theodore Perkins. In her own foreword to the book, Phoebe wrote:

It is hoped that a proper regard for the eighth commandment may restrain all book makers from appropiating, without permission, any of the Copyright property of which the book is so largely composed.

Following this foreword, the notice of copyright for Notes of Joy is included -- in the name of her husband, Joseph F. Knapp.

This tune was written after Notes of Joy, but is sung here with this Lenten text by John Ellerton.

Giver of the perfect gift,
Whom we hallow in this place,
Hear the prayer our hearts uplift
Here before thy throne of grace.

Who can save us, Christ, but thou?
Let thy mercy show thy power;
Lo, we plead thy promise now,
Here in this accepted hour.

So may these, our Lenten days,
Blessed by thee, with thee be passed,
That with purer, nobler praise
We may keep thy feast at last.

God the Holy Trinity,
Grant the mercy we implore;
God the One, all praise to thee
Through the ages evermore.

John Ellerton, 1871; alt.
Tune: SARAJEVO (7.7.7.7.)
Phoebe Knapp, 1872 ?

Join In a Song With Sweet Accord

I am near Minneapolis at the moment, here for my second time at the annual conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, which begins this afternoon. As you can see, we'll be at St. Olaf's College, and I'm looking forward to another great week of singing and learning (you can the full schedule of workshops and other sessions).

One new aspect of the program this year is that most of the hymn festivals (big sings!) will be streamed online for anyone to watch and listen. You can go to the St. Olaf's multimedia page each day and the links will be there to access the program.

Sunday, July 12: We Sing Our Story: A Sing for Joy Hymn Festival
John Ferguson and Bruce Benson, Coordinators; 7:30 pm CDT

Monday, July 13: Into the Way of Peace
Carl P. Daw, Jr., Coordinator; Mark G. Meyer, Organist; 7:30 pm CDT

Wednesday, July 15: Giving Life to the Word: Hymns on Parables
Tina Schneider, Scott Foxwell, and Adam M. L. Tice, Coordinators; 7:30 pm CDT

Thursday, July 16: Youthful Hearts: Sing to the Lord!
Paul Westermeyer, Coordinator; David Cherwien, Organist; 10:30 am CDT

Remember -- all times are Central Daylight!

If I figure out where the camera is, maybe I'll wave...


Sunday Night UPDATE: Things are off to a good start, though I am trying not to take it as a bad omen that the first hymn we sang tonight was missing its final verse! The hymnal used (the one in the chapel pews here at St. Olaf's) is the newish Evangelical Lutheran Worship, and apparently its editors think author Henry Van Dyke went on too long -- they only wanted three verses. Here's the last, in case you were watching and missed it too.

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
Which the morning stars began;
All God's love is reigning o'er us,
Kindred love binds hand to hand.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife;
Joyful music leads us sunward
In the triumph-song of life!

I feel better now. We also sang The Canticle of the Turning, a modern version of the Magnificat that commenter Leland mentioned to us back on May 31, 2008. And there were some other new, interesting texts as well as old favorites. Toward the end, the climax of the evening came with Shall we gather at the river. The weather here is quite hot, and I was thinking about author Robert Lowry's uncomfortable Brooklyn summer that prompted the writing of that hymn, and also about singing it on hot summer nights in New York myself many years ago.

Early to bed; it's going to be a busy week.

Fanny Crosby

More than eight thousand gospel songs are reputed to have come from the pen of Frances Jane Crosby, born today in 1820. Some estimates go even higher, though you can only see about five hundred listed at the Cyber Hymnal (fewer than ten percent of them!). Blinded as a child of six weeks by poor medical care, Crosby later entered the New York Institution for the Blind (still operating as the New York Institute for Special Education) in the Bronx. She was a student there for several years and later returned as a teacher of English and history.

She began writing poetry at the age of eight, and her first collection, The Blind Girl and Other Poems was published in 1844. The year before, she had traveled with a group from the school to Washington DC to lobby for better educational funding for the blind. While there, she became the first woman to speak on the floor of the US Congress when she read one of her poems (a tribute to the late Secretary of State Hugh Legare) before a joint session. She would return to Washington several times after that, visiting Presidents and other politicians. (Grover Cleveland had once been employed at the New York Institution for the Blind when Crosby was there.)

She published a few more collections of poetry, and in time began to write secular songs. Working with composer George Root she wrote The Flower Queen (1852), said to be the first American cantata. She collaborated with Root on several more songs which were very successful.

In 1863, William B. Bradbury asked her to write a hymn for a collection he was editing. There's a cry from Macedonia was published with music by Bradbury, and neither of them could have foreseen the career that was born. Before long nearly every new gospel songbook and Sunday School collection would include several texts by Fanny Crosby, with music by all the prominent composers of the time. She worked for many years for the publisher Biglow & Main, and would go to their offices to sit and write several texts each day. Eventually she began to write under pseudonyms (nearly 200 have been identified) because publishers didn't want their books to include so many songs by the same author.

She was an accomplished musician, and even wrote the music for a handful of her songs. In 1858 she married Alexander Van Alstyne, another blind musician who taught at the Institution. They were married for more than forty years, though they did not always live together. Fanny was often traveling around the country, lecturing, meeting with her fellow songwriters and composers, and doing various works of charity. She rarely received much remuneration for her hymns and songs, and what she got she usually gave away. By agreement with her husband she continued to be published as Fanny Crosby, the name by which she was best known, though some older hymnals credit her as Mrs. Van Alstyne for propriety's sake.

Several of her songs have already appeared here on the blog (click on the Crosby tag below), some of the most popular as well as more obscure ones. This one falls in the "more obscure" category but I found it interesting and somewhat different from many of her others. It first appeared in the Biglow & Main collection Brightest and Best (1875), and is adapted from the first chapter of the book of Ruth. The Song of Ruth is a ancient poem of fidelity, part of a long progression of Biblical songs proclaimed by both women and men.

Entreat me not to leave thee,
My heart goes with thee now;
Why turn my footsteps homeward?
No friend so dear as thou!
Thy heart has borne my sorrow,
And I have wept for thine;
And now how can I leave thee?
Oh, let thy lot be mine.

Refrain
Entreat me not to leave thee,
Entreat me not to leave thee,
Or to return from following after thee;
For where thou goest I will go,
And where thou lodgest I will lodge;
Thy people shall be my people,
And thy God my God,
Thy people shall be my people,
And thy God my God.

I’ll follow where thou leadest;
My love will cling to thee;
And where thy head is pillowed,
My nightly rest shall be;
Thy birthplace and thy kindred
I’ll cherish like my own;
Thy God shall be my refuge,
I’ll worship at God's throne.
Refrain

Where death’s cold hand shall find thee,
There let my eyelids close,
And, in the grave beside thee,
This mortal frame repose:
Oh, do not now entreat me;
No friend so dear as thou;
My heart would break in anguish
If I should leave thee now.
Refrain

Fanny Crosby, 1875
Tune: SONG OF RUTH (7.6.7.6.D. with refrain)
Robert Lowry, 1875

I'm not sure if this song ever appeared in any other hymnals or songbooks, but given the tremendous number of texts by Fanny Crosby, editors always had new ones to consider. So it's not surprising that many interesting ones were set aside in favor of the most popular ones -- even those would be enough to fill a book or two. Similarly, her later songs, those written in the twentieth century, are also little-known.

Fanny published an autobiography in 1906, Memories of Eighty Years, which is almost as interesting for what she leaves out as for what she includes (for example, her marriage is covered in two paragraphs). She continued her work of songwriting and charity up until her death in 1915. For the last several years of her life she had lived in Bridgeport, CT, and her funeral there was the largest that city had seen, larger than that of P.T.Barnum, they said. Only a small stone reading "Aunt Fanny" and "She hath done what she could."originally marked her gravesite, but in 1955 the city erected a larger monument there with the words of Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine inscribed.

William Howard Doane

William H. Doane (February 3, 1832 - December 23, 1915) was a prolific and popular composer of gospel songs (perhaps as many as six hundred) who also wrote some texts and edited at least forty-three collections. However, he was also quite a successful businessman who ran a woodworking company in Cincinnati, so his extensive musical endeavors were "only" a sideline.

In Cincinnati he belonged to the Mount Auburn Baptist Church, where he was also the superintendent of the Sunday school for many years. He received a Doctor of Music degree in 1875 from Denison University in Granville OH. In later years he was a major donor to Denison, the William Howard Doane Library (original building pictured below) being one of his gifts.

He worked with many of the important gospel song writers and composers of his day, particularly Robert Lowry and Fanny Crosby. Doane wrote the tunes for some of Crosby's most well-known songs, including this one.

Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Refrain
Savior, Savior,
Hear my humble cry;
While on others thou art calling,
Do not pass me by.

Let me at thy throne of mercy
Find a sweet relief,
Kneeling there in deep contrition;
Help my unbelief.
Refrain

Trusting only in thy merit,
Would I seek thy face;
Heal my wounded, broken spirit,
Save me by thy grace.
Refrain

Thou the Spring of all my comfort,
More than life to me,
Whom have I on earth beside thee?
Whom in heav’n but thee?
Refrain

Fanny Crosby, 1868
Tune: PASS ME NOT (8.5.8.5. with refrain)
William H. Doane, 1870

There's an affectionate parody song written some years ago by J. Thomas Sopko that uses this tune that begins "Sing a song by Fanny Crosby/Every Sabbath day..." with the refrain:

Pastor, Pastor,
Hear my irate cry:
When you pick the hymns for Sunday,
Don't pass Fanny by!

It continues for three verses, I believe. I suppose I should try to locate Mr.Sopko sometime to get permission to post the whole thing (he has a few other more serious items that would fit in here as well).

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.

To Fairer Worlds On High

It appears to be Gospel Song Weekend at Conjubilant With Song, perhaps to counter the opinions of some that I don't like gospel songs. Admittedly I do favor hymns; they are the music of the churches I grew up in (though recent examination has uncovered something interesting - a story for another time). It's true that I don't care for bad gospel songs -- some are the nineteenth century equivalent of today's praise choruses, and even Fanny Crosby wrote a number of "Jesus-is-my-boyfriend" songs long before that term was coined. And not all the tunes are particularly noteworthy. But there are uninteresting hymns too, and dull hymn tunes.

This is an early sort-of gospel song I like very much.

Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
Join in a song with sweet accord
And thus surround the throne,
And thus surround the throne.

Refrain
We're marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We're marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God

The heirs of grace have found,
Glory begun below.
Celestial fruits on earthly ground,
Celestial fruits on earthly ground,
From faith and hope may grow,
From faith and hope may grow.
Refrain

The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets,
Or walk the golden streets.
Refrain

Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground,
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground,
To fairer worlds on high,
To fairer worlds on high.
Refrain

Isaac Watts, 1707; Robert Lowry (refrain) 1867; alt.
Tune: MARCHING TO ZION (6.6.8.8.6.6. with refrain)
Robert Lowry, 1867

A great tune that really does march (it kind of swings too). When we compiled a hymnal for local church use, I slotted this one in as the final selection, #600. The subject of the final group of hymns and songs was "The Life to Come," and it seemed appropriate to end the book with a song that talks about continuing onward and upward.

Now some will say that I'm cheating a bit because the main part of the text is by Isaac Watts, but when Robert Lowry composed a new tune and added a refrain he spread this hymn to a wider audience than would have ever known it otherwise. The original Watts text, without the refrain, is still sometimes seen in hymnals. Watts wrote ten verses, so different hymnals will choose different verses. One that never gets used:

The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.

Too controversial! But the eighteenth century may not have been as conservative as we imagine it to have been.

So, gospel songs: another summer Sunday theme for the blog. And maybe I'll get around to telling that story.