The Feast of the Ascension

Today is the "official" feast day marking the Ascension of Jesus, though most churches will observe the day on this coming Sunday.

Many hymns for this day focus on the actual going-up portion of the story from Acts 1:1-11: (Jesus) was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. But another theme of the Ascension expressed in hymns and prayers is Jesus taking his place in heaven as Ruler and Sovereign.

Look, O look, the sight is glorious:
As we see thee, Jesus, now;
From the fight returned victorious,
Every knee to thee shall bow;
Crown thee, crown thee,
Crown thee, crown thee,
Crowns become the Victor’s brow,
Crowns become the Victor’s brow.

Mortals crown thee! angels crown thee!
Rich the trophies thou dost bring;
On the seat of power enthrone thee,
While the vault of heaven rings;
Crown thee, crown thee,
Crown thee, crown thee,
Jesus, praise to thee we sing,
Jesus, praise to thee we sing,

Soldiers in derision crowned thee,
Mocking thus thy rightful claim;
Saints and angels now acclaim thee,
Own thy title, praise thy name;
Crown thee, crown thee,
Crown thee, crown thee,
Spread abroad the Victor’s fame,
Spread abroad the Victor’s fame.

Hark, those bursts of acclamation!
Hark, those loud triumphant chords!
As thou tak'st the highest station;
Claiming sovereignty's rewards!
Crown thee, crown thee,
Crown thee, crown thee,
O what joy the sight affords!
O what joy the sight affords!

Thomas Kelly, 1809; alt.
Tune: BRYN CALFARIA
William Owen, 1852

BRYN CALFARIA (Mount Calvary in Welsh) is a rather rambunctious tune by William Owen (1813- 1893), first matched with the text Gwaed y groes s'yn codi fynny in Owen's collection Y Perl Cerdderol (1852). Owen reportedly composed his first hymn tune at the age of eighteen, but this one is certainly the most well-known of them.

P.S.: The window above is from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, CA.

One Year Ago: The Feast of the Ascension
and Ascension Sunday

Unnumbered As the Sand

But you could make an attempt...

Over at the blog Semicolon, the writer is conducting a survey, and asking everyone to submit ten favorite hymns (in order!). The results will be compiled into a list of Top 100 Hymns. She plans to countdown the list over the summer.

Deadline is Sunday, May 31, which fortunately gives you some time to plan and prioritize your list.

Kindly Earth With Timely Birth

In some English traditions, this last Sunday in Eastertide (also ennumerated as three weeks before Trinity Sunday) is celebrated as Rogation Sunday. The original rogation customs are varied, but involved the days just before the Ascension. Prayers were offered for the growing crops; in modern times this is broadened to God's whole creation.

O Jesus, crowned with all renown,
Since thou the earth hast trod,
Thou reignest, and by thee come down
Henceforth the gifts of God.
Thine is the health, and thine the wealth
That in our halls abound;
And thine the beauty and the joy
With which the years are crowned.

Thus in their change let frost and heat
And winds and dew be giv’n;
All fostering power, all influence sweet,
Breathe from the bounteous heav’n.
Attemper fair with gentle air
The sunshine and the rain,
That kindly earth with timely birth
May yield her fruits again;

That we may feed the poor aright,
And, gathering round thy throne,
Here in the holy angels’ sight
Repay thee of thine own.
That we may praise thee all our days,
And with our Maker's Name,
And with the Holy Spirit's gifts
The Savior's love proclaim.

Edward White Benson, 1860; alt.
Tune: KINGSFOLD (C.M.D.)
Traditional English melody
arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906

Edward White Benson, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was the headmaster of Wellington College when he wrote this hymn. Originally in six verses, this version first appeared in the Episcopal hymnal of 1916. As we have seen in other cases, some verses are omitted and some combined with lines left out, giving a sharper focus to the theme for congregational use. The last four lines are found nowhere in Benson's original, but were added by someone on that 1916 committee to give the hymn a Trinitarian ending.

I do like this verse, originally the third of eight:

And as, when ebbed the flood, our sires
Kneeled on the mountain sod,
While o’er the new world’s altar fires
Shone out the bow of God;
And sweetly fell the peaceful spell—
Word that shall aye avail —
“Summer and winter shall not cease,
Seed time nor harvest fail."

Samuel Webbe

Composer Samuel Webbe may have died on this day in 1816 (his birthdate in 1740 is unknown). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (1996) confirms the May 15 date, which is good enough for me, but I've seen three other possible dates in May in various sources (including two different dates in the Wikipedia entry linked above).

Webbe served seven years as apprentice to a cabinetmaker beginning when he was eleven. Following that, he studied Latin, French, and Italian, supporting himself by copying music for a London publisher. Continuing his musical interests, he took lessons from the organist of the Bavarian chapel. He formed singing groups for men and composed many popular catches and glees. Later in life, he was known for giving free music lessons on Friday evenings.

A Roman Catholic, Webbe was appointed organist at the chapels of both the Portuguese and Sardinian embassies (at this time in England, the Catholic mass was only allowed to be performed at foreign embassies). He published books of anthems and motets that were widely used in his time. His hymn tunes mostly derive from his book An Essay on the Church Plain Chant (1782), originally written in plainsong style and later arranged and harmonized by others into the forms we know today.

Over the years many people have known and loved this hymn with its tune by Webbe, though it may seem a bit dated to some.

Come, ye disconsolate,
Where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat,
Fervently kneel.
Here bring your wounded hearts,
Here tell your anguish;
We have no sorrow
That heaven cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate,
Light of the straying,
Hope of the penitent,
Fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter,
Tenderly saying,
“We have no sorrow
That heaven cannot cure.”

Here see the Bread of Life,
See waters flowing
Forth from the throne of God,
Pure from above.
Come to the feast of love;
Come, ever knowing
We have no sorrow
But heaven can remove.

Thomas Moore, 1816;
rev. Thomas Hastings, 1831; alt.
Tune: CONSOLATOR (11.10.11.10)
Samuel Webbe, 1792

Webbe's Essay on the Church Plain Chant seems to be the first place that ADESTE FIDELES was priinted in England, and it's due (in a roundabout way) to Webbe's association with the Portuguese embassy chapel that that popular Christmas tune is called the "Portuguese hymn" in many older sources, though it's now more generally believed to be the work of John Francis Wade.

Sir Arthur Sullivan

The birthday of composer Arthur Sullivan (May 13, 1842 - November 22, 1900) is probably observed today by a good many of his admirers, though most of them have far less interest in his church music and hymn tunes than in his comic operas written with W.S. Gilbert.

As we know, Sullivan did write a good number of hymn tunes, probably around 50, and arranged or harmonized several more. This link takes you to more than 60 (including some arrangements), with sound files and printable scores, while the Cyber Hymnal, which we most frequently use here, only lists 33. Having been interested in Sullivan's tunes for many (many) years, I can say that I'm not sure that the list at the first link is even complete and that there may be a few more. If you click on the Sullivan tag following this entry, you can revisit all the tunes I've used so far on the blog (I'd even forgotten using one or two).

Since we are still in the season of Eastertide for another week or so, this seems to be the most appropriate tune for today. I think it's his second greatest tune, though it's far less known than his first, which we saw last year. Yes, it's a little trickier to sing, particularly the last line. The text, by Christopher Wordsworth, is "seeded" with spring-ish references to new life and growth to complement the resurrection theme.

Alleluia, alleluia!
Hearts and voices heavenward raise:
Sing to God a hymn of gladness,
Sing to God a hymn of praise.
Thou, who on the cross a victim,
For the world's salvation bled,
Jesus Christ, the Word of glory,
Now is risen from the dead.

Now the iron bars are broken,
Christ from death to life is born,
Glorious life, and life immortal,
On this holy Easter morn.
Thou hast triumphed, and we conquer
By thy mighty enterprise:
We with thee to life eternal
By thy resurrection rise.

Christ is risen, Christ, the first fruits
Of the holy harvest field,
Which will all its full abundance
At the second coming yield:
Then the golden ears of harvest
Will their heads before thee wave,
Ripened by thy glorious sunshine
From the furrows of the grave.

Christ is risen, we are risen!
Shed upon us heavenly grace,
Rain and dew and gleams of glory
From the brightness of thy face;
That with hearts in heaven dwelling,
We on earth may fruitful be,
And by angel hands be gathered,
And be evermore with thee.

Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory be to God on high;
Alleluia! to the Savior
Who has won the victory;
Alleluia! to the Spirit,
Fount of love and sanctity:
Alleluia, alleluia!
To the Triune Majesty.

Christopher Wordsworth, 1862; alt.
Tune: LUX EOI (8.7.8.7.D.)
Arthur Sullivan, 1874

This tune is heard as a bit of an in-joke at the very beginning of the film version of The Pirates of Penzance, starring Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline (not yet on DVD, unfortunately). The camera swoops in from above on the seaside village of Penzance, stopping in the village square, outside a church where we hear the congregation singing. Most fans of Pirates probably don't know it's this Sullivan hymn tune they're hearing. But, since the operetta takes place on February 29 (pirate apprentice Frederic's birthday), and presumably during Lent, I hope they are not singing this Easter text yet! (it's hard to make out the words, as I recall)

Just two weeks ago, we saw another Sullivan tune, ST. KEVIN, which is most often set to another Easter text. As it happens, there are two more of his tunes that are also associated with Easter hymns: FORTUNATUS, most often sung with Welcome, happy morning; and RESURREXIT, written for a less familar text that begins Christ is risen! Christ is risen!

Four tunes for Easter texts from the same composer may seem excessive, though I would not be surprised to learn of a church where all four were sung in the same service. On the other hand, could we really expect several Lenten tunes from the composer of H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance? What better season for "happy" tunes? I think that Sullivan was temperamentally drawn to more joyful texts, and that these four tunes are all somewhat better than some of his more "serious" ones, though you can judge for yourself if you want to slog through a few of those sixty-some others linked above.

Frances E. Cox

Frances Elizabeth Cox was born at Oxford on this day in 1812. Almost nothing is known about her life, but her translations of German hymns have survived and continue to be sung today.

Congregational hymn singing in Germany was part of their worship long before the practice took hold in England. Yet German hymns were nearly unknown in England until the middle of the nineteenth century, except for some that had been translated by John Wesley. Catherine Winkworth would come to be the most prolific translator, but others such as Frances Cox made their contribution.

In 1841, Cox published Sacred Hymns from the German, containing 49 translated hymns. Her second volume, 23 years later, Hymns from the German, contained many of those 49 with an additional 29. Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology says that there were a few other translations published in magazines that appeared in neither collection.

It seems that everyone who ever translated a German hymn took a crack at Martin Luther's Ein feste burg. Cox's translation begins:

A Fortress firm and steadfast Rock
Is God in time of danger
A Shield and Sword in every shock
From foe well-known or stranger.

Two of Cox's translations we have already seen here: one for Easter and one of my favorite hymns, for All Saints' Day. This one is, I suspect, more widely known in various denominations.

Sing praise to God who reigns above,
The God of all creation,
The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation;
With healing balm my soul is filled,
And every faithless murmur stilled:
To God all praise and glory.

What such almighty power hath made,
God's gracious mercy keepeth;
By morning glow or evening shade
God's watchful eye ne'er sleepeth.
Within the realm of God's delight,
Lo! all is just and all is right:
To God all praise and glory.

For God is never far away,
But through all grief distressing,
An ever present help and stay,
Our peace and joy and blessing.
As with a mother's tender hand,
God gently leads the pilgrim band:
To God all praise and glory.

Then all my toilsome way along
I sing aloud God's praises,
That all may hear the grateful song
My voice unwearied raises:
Be joyful in the Lord, my heart!
Both soul and body bear your part!
To God all praise and glory.

O ye who name Christ's holy name
Give God all praise and glory;
Let all who know God's power proclaim
Aloud the wondrous story!
Cast each false idol from its throne,
And worship God, and God alone!
To God all praise and glory.

Johann J. Schutz, 1675
tr. Frances E. Cox, 1864; alt.
Tune: MIT FREUDEN ZART (8.7.8.7.8.8.7.)
Bohemian Brethren Kirchegesang, 1566

This hymn by the Lutheran Johann Schutz was originally in eight verses, though most hymnals print only four or five. One that is rarely seen:

I cried to God in my distress --
In mercy, hear my calling!
My Maker saw my helplessness
And kept my feet from falling;
For this, Lord, thanks and praise to thee
Praise God, I say, praise God with me!
To God all praise and glory.

The tune, MIT FREUDEN ZART, may have been traced back to a medieval French secular song, Une pastourelle gentille, though the more martial setting we know today seems a little heavy for a French shepherd girl.

More Voices Found: Phebe Hanaford

Today is the 180th birthday of Phebe Hanaford (1829 - 1921). Born into a Quaker family, she reportedly played at preaching as a child, gathering a little congregation of friends together to hear her. Years later she would become the fourth woman minister ordained in this country.

Phebe became a teacher at age sixteen, and married at twenty. She converted to the Baptist denomination of her husband, but her interest in womens' rights and abolitionism eventually led her to Universalism. She delivered her first sermon in 1865, and was soon recognized for her preaching. In 1868 she was ordained into the Universalist ministry and went on to serve churches in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

She was well acquainted with the leaders of the women's suffrage movement: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (and officiated at both their funerals many years later). Lucretia Mott, in fact, was her cousin.

Phebe edited a women's Universalist magazine, The Ladies' Repository, around this time. She also wrote at least fourteen books, including a best-selling biography of Abraham Lincoln (the first published after his assassination) and a volume of poetry, From Shore to Shore. The total number of her hymns doesn't seem to be known, but it was probably small. I chose this one because we are still in the Easter season.

Christ is risen! Lo, the day
Glows with love's divinest ray;
Light is come, the gleam divine
On each human path to shine;
So with grateful gladness sing,
Christ is risen, our glorious King!

Christ is risen! Lo, the grave
Holds him not who came to save,
Save from sin and death and pain,
Save from doubt's beguiling reign;
So with joyful hope we sing,
Christ is risen, our conquering King!

Christ is risen! Lo, a voice
Calls from heav'nly heights, "Rejoice!"
Angels welcomed him whose birth
They had heralded on earth --
Of his triumph let us sing,
Christ is risen, our Savior King!

Christ is risen! Lo, we'll be
Witnesses, O Christ, for thee;
Men and women strong and sweet
By thy grace disciples meet;
Till this song in heaven we'll sing,
Christ is risen! behold our King!

Phebe Hanaford, 1883; alt.
Tune: SUNRISE (7.7.7.7.7.7.)
Trier Gesangbuch, 1695
Phebe and her husband separated (but never divorced) when he would not move to Connecticut with her when she accepted a call to the Universalist church in New Haven. She then lived with Ellen Miles, a writer and poet, for the next forty-four years, until Miles' death. In 1877, the church she pastored in Jersey City did not renew her contract, supposedly over her support for womens' rights, but papers and letters from the period reveal that Phebe had been asked to "dismiss" Ellen Miles (referred to as "the minister's wife") and she refused. She and her supporters formed another congregation in Jersey City, where she remained for another seven years.

A view of the two women's home life is depicted in a 1905 article in the New York Times. Ellen Miles is here referred to as a "writer of hymns," though I have not located any yet.

Phebe Hanaford's obituary in that same paper (June 2, 1921) summarized her accomplishments thus: "All forms of feminine advancement she supported." She lived to see the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution passed.

T. Tertius Noble

Thomas Tertius Noble (1867- 1953) already appeared here last year, but like many composers and hymnwriters, he produced more than one work worthy of our consideration.

In addition to his compositional skill, Noble was also a renowned organ recitalist, gaining an international reputation during his years living in England. He was on a recital tour of the US when the vestry of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in New York approached him to become their organist and choirmaster. Once hired, he naturally made suggestions regarding the new pipe organ they were having built that would make it comparable to the organ he played while employed at York Minster, which was considered to be one of the finest in England. After the new organ was installed, Noble began a series of weekly recitals on Sunday evenings at 8 pm, which further enhanced the musical reputation of St. Thomas. He continued to play concerts across the country, for occasions as diverse as the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco and the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of Vassar College.

O God, the Giver of all good;
Thy people live by daily food;
And daily must our prayer be said,
“Give us this day our daily bread.”

What large provision thou hast made!
As large as is thy people’s need;
How wide thy bounteous love is spread!
Wide as the want of daily bread.

The life of earth and seed is thine;
Suns glow, rains fall, by power divine;
Since every day by thee we live,
May grateful hearts thy gifts receive.

Samuel Longfellow, 1864; alt.
Tune: NEW YORK (L.M.)
T. Tertius Noble, 1917

In my research thus far I've found seventeen hymn tunes by Noble, a few carols, and several harmonizatrions of other, older hymn tunes. I'm sure there are more of each. I'm also curious about his anthems and other choral music, but there are only so many hours in the day.

Where Living Waters Flow

Good Shepherd Sunday, observed in some Catholic and Protestant traditions, falls on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Sheep and shepherd references abound, and the readings generally include Psalm 23. That particular psalm, a favorite of many people, is also a popular subject for hymn texts. Already on the blog we have seen two different ones (here and here) and today we have a third, a gospel song which adds a refrain partially taken from Matthew 11: 28-30. There are many more paraphrases of Psalm 23, spanning several centuries and musical styles, so I'm sure we'll get to more of them.

Since God is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
God maketh me down to lie
In pastures green God leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

Refrain
God's yoke is easy; God's burden is light.
I’ve found it so; I’ve found it so.
God leadeth me by day and by night
Where living waters flow.

My soul crieth out: “Restore me again,
And give me the strength to take
The narrow path of righteousness,
E’en for thine own Name’s sake.”
Refrain

Yea, tho’ I should walk the valley of death,
Yet why should I fear from ill?
For thou art with me, and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
Refrain

Ralph E. Hudson, 1885; alt.
Tune: GOD'S YOKE IS EASY (Irregular with refrain)

Ralph Erskine Hudson was a Methodist minister who began his own publishing firm to produce hymnals and songbooks, many containing his own texts and tunes. He became a popular traveling evangelist, promoting his company's output.

Saint Philip and Saint James

The Episcopal calendar of saints marks today as the commemoration of two saints: Philip and James. We've talked before about the multiple saints named James (here and here) -- this one seems to be James the Lesser, though there isn't complete agreement on that. Philip appears a bit more often in the New Testament, and apparently he is always the fifth in the lists of the twelve apostles.

Today's hymn by Cecil Frances Alexander uses familiar themes from John 14. Philip is one of the disciples asking questions of Jesus in this chapter.

Our chosen Way, and Truth of God
That Jesus came from heav'n to show,
One Life, that Christ's redeeming blood
Has won, for all the saints below.

The lore, from Philip once concealed,
To us is fully known in Christ,
Our great Creator is revealed
And all our longing is sufficed.

And still unwavering faith holds sure
The words that James wrote boldly down;
Each day we labor and endure,
And finally win the heav'nly crown,

O Way divine, through gloom and strife,
Bring us our Maker's face to see,
O heav'nly Truth, O precious Life,
At last, at last to rest in thee.

Cecil Frances Alexander, 1875; alt.
Tune: GLOUCESTER (L.M.)
Edward Hodges, 1841

Composer Edward Hodges was born in England, but crossed the ocean to accept church musician jobs first in Toronto then in New York City, where he was the organist at Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. He is best known for his hymn tune arrangement of the main theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, known to us as HYMN TO JOY. I also mentioned him (though not by name) last week when talking about his son, John Sebastian Bach Hodges, the composer of EUCHARISTIC HYMN.

Now the Queen of Seasons

Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
Of triumphant gladness;
God hath brought forth Israel
Into joy from sadness;
Loosed from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke
Jacob’s sons and daughters,
Led them with unmoistened foot
Through the Red Sea waters.

’Tis the spring of souls today;
Christ has burst the prison,
And from three days’ sleep in death
As a sun hath risen;
All the winter of our sins,
Long and cold, is flying
From thy light, to whom we give
Laud and praise undying.

Now the queen of seasons, bright
With the day of splendor,
With the royal feast of feasts,
Comes its joy to render;
Comes to glad Jerusalem,
Who with true affection
Welcomes in unwearied strains
Jesus’ resurrection.

Neither might the gates of death,
Nor the tomb’s cold portal,
Nor the watchers, nor the seal
Hold thee as a mortal;
But today amidst thine own,
Thou didst stand, bestowing
That, thy peace which evermore
Passeth human knowing.

John of Damascus, 6th c.
tr. John Mason Neale, 1859; alt.
Tune: ST. KEVIN (7.6.7.6.D.)
Arthur Sullivan, 1872

There are several different versions of this hymn out there, depending on which hymnal you use. I grew up knowing only three verses; some denominations replaced the last four lines of the first verse with the last four lines of the third verse, thus leaving out the Exodus connection (maybe someone thought it would be confusing) and the "queen of seasons" lines. Some hymnals add a fifth, Trinitarian verse, apparently written by the editors of Hymns Ancient and Modern. The hymnal where I think this tune first appeared with this text, Church Hymns With Tunes (1874), omitted the fourth verse seen above. There are probably other permutations, and definitely many other word or phrase changes that have been made by different editors over the years.

Compare this translation into rhyming verse by John Mason Neale to another English translation (into prose) of the same Greek text by John of Damascus.

All peoples let us sing a song of victory to him who rescued Israel from the bitter slavery of Pharao, and guided them dryshod in the depths of the sea, for he has been glorified.

To-day is the spring of souls, for Christ, shining from the tomb like the sun, has dispelled the foggy winter of our sin. Let us sing to him, for he has been glorified.

The queen of seasons, filled with light, as escort to the brilliant queen of days, delights the chosen people of the Church, which unceasingly praises the risen Christ.

Neither death’s gates, O Christ, nor the seals of the tomb, nor the bolts of the doors stood in your way; but having risen you came to your friends, O Master, giving them the peace which passes all understanding.

Its all there.

Some sources say that the "queen of seasons" is the Eastertide season of the church year, which is probably correct, but others believe that it refers to spring, of the four we usually think of as "seasons." Since Easter can never fall earlier than March 22, Eastertide always happens during spring anyway.

This tune, ST. KEVIN, was probably the most widely used one for its first hundred years or so. It's the kind of tune that congregations tend to know and sing well, but that church musicians often disdain. I don't believe we've sung it at my current church since I've.been there, though the choir sings the text as an anthem during the Easter Vigil with music by a different composer. Since Arthur Sullivan's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, we'll talk about his affinity for Easter tunes at that time (it will still be within the queen of seasons -- either way you define her).

Saint Mark

April 25 is the feast day of Saint Mark, who is believed to have written the earliest gospel account. He is frequently depicted in the act of writing, and his designated living creature is a lion (which sometimes has wings). Tradition claims that Mark also established the first significant Christian school.

We praise your grace, O Savior
Enduring with us long,
And ever out of weakness,
Your servants making strong.

The saint who led his comrades
And turned back from the fight,
Behold at last victorious
In your prevailing might!

From you, Lord, came the courage,
Once more to face the host;
Your strength, most mighty Savior,
In weakness shines the most.

Your love Saint Mark has numbered
Among the blessed Four,
And all the world rejoices
To learn his Gospel lore.

O Jesus, glorious Victor,
O'er all the hosts of sin,
In us your strength make perfect,
In us the victory win.

William Walsham How, 1871; alt.
Tune: VULPIUS (7.6.7.6.)
Melchior Vulpius, 1609

As I wrote last year, Mark is believed to have been the man who ran away when Jesus was arrested (one reason he may be considered "weak"). He was then "made strong" by his later accomplishments: the gospel account, his evangelism, and his eventual martyrdom.

It's interesting that both this hymn and Adin Ballou's hymn from Thursday refer to the same night in Gethsemane. While Mark's running away is generally seen as "weak" (requiring later vindication), I wonder if Ballou would have considered it "non-resistant" (and therefore commendable).

Adin Ballou

Today is the birthday of New England reformer Adin Ballou. He was born in 1803 into a Six-Principle Baptist family, but they converted ten years later to the Christian Connexion. In 1822, Ballou became a Unitarian (thereupon being disinherited by his father), but he was also intrigued by the doctrines of Restorationism and Practical Christianity, and tried to combine strains from all of these in his writing and lecturing over the next several years.

Still more "conversions" followed; he formed a denomination called the Massachusetts Association of Universal Restorationists in 1831, the same year he was dismissed from his Unitarian pulpit in Milford, MA. In 1838 he declared himself a follower of Christian Non-Resistance (what we might call pacifism), and shortly thereafter published a pamphlet called Standard of Practical Christianity. Believing that for Christians to make their beliefs into reality, they had to refashion society, he founded a utopian community named Hopedale on a farm outside Milford. He and his followers embraced his causes of Non-Resistance and Practical Christianity, as well as abolitionism, temperance, and women's rights.

Now we get to the hymn part. The Hopedale Collection of Hymns and Songs, for the Use of Practical Christians, compiled by Ballou and including several hymns written by him, was published in 1850. The hymnal contained many established psalm paraphrases and older texts by Watts, Wesley, and others. Perhaps in accordance with Ballou's support for women's rights, there is a good proportion of texts by women; established writers such as Anne Steele and Anna Laetitia Barbauld, and some who were members of the Hopedale community, such as Abby Price and Mary Colburn.

The new texts by Ballou and his followers were largely instructional, meant to reinforce the beliefs of the community. The hymnal contains the usual sort of sections, such as "Devotional," "Jesus Christ," and "Joy, Gratitude, Praise," but also sections for hymns of "Temperance," "Anti-Slavery," and "Christian Non-Resistance."

For example, these abolitionist verses of Ballou's:

Shall kidnapped Afric's race,
In Southern bondage held,
Forever plead their deep distress
And coldly be repelled?

O Lord, in thunder tones,
Rebuke these giant crimes;
Behold the victims, hear their groans,
And rescue them betimes.
The challenges of living in community were (perhaps) addressed in another hymn, which began:

My fleshly lusts I hate,
And all their works detest;
Yet strangely on their mandate wait,
And do their vile behest.
The citizens of Hopedale were longing for a better world, seen in Ballou's Years are coming, speed them onward (perhaps his only hymn to survive into the twentieth century). A more specific goal than world peace was expressed in these verses from another hymn:

Not individual souls alone
Require the new and heavenly birth,
Society, in sin up-grown,
Needs Christianizing o'er the earth.

The principles, by Jesus taught
Must be impartially applied,
And social institutions brought,
With laws divine to coincide.

While interesting in their historical and social context, none of these hymns is likely to be sung anywhere today. This following one of Ballou's perhaps comes closest for a modern congregation, though I think it might need a different first verse and the "non-resistant" jargon seems a bit clumsy today.

Forbear that treacherous sword!
Its deadly blade restrain;
For they that trust its base support
Shall perish with the slain.

Thus Jesus promptly stayed
Impetuous Peter's arm,
And though to murderous foes betrayed,
Forbade to do them harm.

Obedient to his voice
The first disciples proved --
And bore their non-resistant cross,
By scorn and wrath unmoved.

And let the faithful still
Revere its high command,
Returning only good for ill
With ever generous hand.

Adin Ballou, 1850
Tune: BOYLSTON (S.M.)
Lowell Mason, 1832
I think Lowell Mason's BOYLSTON is the kind of tune that would have been known and sung by the people of Hopedale. Ballou clearly believed in the "powerful engine" of hymn singing (as Tuesday's Reginald Heber called it). Tuesday nights in Hopedale were devoted to community singing because Ballou felt that they needed more opportunities than Sunday worship to express their faith through song. He published another hymnal in 1856, Communal Songs and Hymns.

Like most other utopian communities, Hopedale had a fairly brief life, lasting only until 1856. It continued as a church, Hopedale Parish, in 1867 was admitted to the Unitarian denomination, and still is open today. Adin Ballou remained as the minister until his retirement in 1880.
Today, an organization of Friends of Adin Ballou continues to espouse his belief in a future of peace and cooperation.

Reginald Heber

English bishop and hymnwriter Reginald Heber (April 21, 1783 - April 3, 1826), was born in Cheshire, where his father was a clergyman. His academic career at Oxford University was very distinguished, and he was himself ordained in the Anglican church a few years later.

He then spent sixteen years as rector of Hodnet, a village in Shropshire, and it was during this period that he wrote nearly all of his hymns, some of which were published in church periodicals. Hymns were not yet a regular part of Anglican worship, but Heber knew how popular they were among Methodists and other Dissenting congregations.

He began to assemble a collection of new hymns, written both by himself and by friends of his, such as Henry Hart Milman. Two Church of England bishops were approached for permission to publish a hymnal with suggested hymns for each Sunday of the church year. Heber wrote of the "powerful engine" that hymn singing was becoming in other denominations, and that it might be better to regulate, through ecclesiastical approval, the content of hymns rather than to try to suppress them altogether. Approval was denied.

In 1823 Heber was appointed Bishop of Calcutta. He had turned down the appointment twice before but finally consented. He traveled extensively throughout his domain (which at the time included all of India, Ceylon, and Australia) and was acclaimed for his hard work. However, he died suddenly in India in 1826, following a service where he confirmed forty-two people.

After his death, his wife Amelia finally received the necessary permission to publish the hymnal he had worked on years before. Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (1827) contained all fifty-seven of Heber's hymns, including this one, which is still sung today.

Bread of the world, in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul, in mercy shed,
By whom the words of life were spoken,
And in whose death our sins are dead.

Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
Look on the tears by sinners shed;
And be thy feast to us the token,
That by thy grace our souls are fed.

Reginald Heber, 1827
Tune: EUCHARISTIC HYMN (9.8.9.8.)
John S. B. Hodges, 1868

John Sebastian Bach Hodges (yes, his father was a composer) was born in England but lived in the US for many years. He attended Columbia University and the General Theological Seminary, and was ordained in the Episcopal Church, serving congregations for many years. Given that name he was perhaps destined to have at least some musical interests, and he did write some hymn tunes and helped compile more than one hymnal.

P.S. The kneeling statue of Reginald Heber by sculptor Francis Chantrey is in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Chantrey also erected a statue of Heber in Calcutta.

One Year Ago: Saint Anselm

Eliza Flower

Composer Eliza Flower, born on this day in 18o3, was the older sister of hymnwriter Sarah Flower Adams. However, her music is all but unknown today.

She displayed musical talent from an early age and composed songs under the direction of a teacher who was also the organist at the village church in Harlow, where the Flower girls grew up. In 1831 her first published composition appeared: Fourteen Musical Illustrations of the Waverley Novels (of Sir Walter Scott).

Eliza and Sarah had became the wards of the Unitarian minister William Johnson Fox following the deaths of their parents. They sang in the choir at Fox's South Place Chapel, and when Fox planned a hymnal for his congregation, both girls made contributions to it. Eliza, in fact, became the musical editor of the book, Hymns and Anthems, writing sixty-three original tunes (out of the 150 hymns) and arranging some of the others. Sarah's hymn Nearer, my God, to thee, appeared here, with a tune by Eliza. Sadly, the only edition of this hymnal that is available online does not include the tunes. I am continuing the search.

So what happened to all of those tunes? The Church of England Quarterly Review, in 1842, pronounced Eliza's work in Fox's hymnal to "exhibit genius of the highest order," "finely harmonized, and vividly depict(ing) the feeling of the words." Another (unnamed ) critic says that, "in musical composition, (she) attained a higher rank than, before her time, had been reached by any of her sex." Were the tunes simply too out of fashion for later generations?

I have only found one of them which appeared in the Bristol Tune Book (1891), though it's not quite a hymn -- more of a national song: Now pray we for our country (scroll down to the bottom of the page). It's also possible that the five tunes in Christopher Wordsworth's hymnal The Holy Year (1864) credited to "E.F." were Eliza's, but that was nearly 20 years after her death. The only tenuous connection I have found is that the Flower sisters were friends of Wordsworth's more famous cousin, the poet William Wordsworth.

One possible explanation for the disuse of Flower's hymn tunes stems from her personal life. In 1835, following the marriage of Sarah, Eliza returned to William Fox's house, reportedly to manage his household. But Fox also separated from his wife around this time, and Flower continued to live with Fox and his children until her death in 1846 (of consumption). In A Historical Dictionary of British Women (2003), we read that "although their relationship was platonic, the connection brought a degree of social ostracism upon her." It seems that that disapproval (the situation was widely known and appears in a number of contemporary accounts) might have kept hymnal editors from considering her tunes.

One Year Ago: Anna Laetitia Waring

Lelia Naylor Morris

Lelia Naylor Morris (April 15, 1862 - July 25, 1929) was born in Ohio, the fifth of seven children. Her father was away from home at the time, fighting in the Union Army. After the Civil War, the family settled outside McConnelsville, OH where Lelia was to spend nearly her whole life.

She learned to play the piano as a child and always sang in the choir of the Methodist church her family attended. She married Charles Morris in 1881, and she with her husband continued to be active Methodists in the community. For many years she was the organist at the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church.

At the age of thirty, she attended a camp meeting in Maryland associated with the Holiness Movement, where, as she later recounted, "I opened my heart and let the Holy Spirit come in." After this, she felt that she had been given a gift to share, and she began writing gospel songs, both the words and the music. The choir director at Trinity Church encouraged her to meet with H. L. Gilmour, who was an established songwriter and publisher, and Gilmour helped Morris to get her earliest songs published.

She soon became quite successful, with her songs appearing in many hymnals (always credited during her lifetime as "Mrs. C.H. Morris"). She apparently wrote at least one thousand songs and hymns, though some estimates go even higher.

O magnify the Lord with me,
Sing praise with one glad voice.
Let all to whom God lendeth breath
In God's great Name rejoice.
For love’s blest revelation,
For rest from condemnation,
For uttermost salvation,
To God give thanks.

Refrain
Let all the people praise thee.
Let all the people praise thee,
Let all the people praise thy Name
Forever and forevermore.

Praise God for blessed holiness,
For wisdom, and for grace;
Sing praises for the precious blood
Which saved the human race.
In tenderness God sought us;
From depths of woe God brought us;
The way of life God taught us.
To God give thanks.
Refrain

Had I a thousand tongues to sing,
The half could ne’er be told
Of love so rich, so full and free,
Of blessings manifold;
Of grace that faileth never,
Peace flowing as a river
From God, the glorious Giver.
To God give thanks.
Refrain

Lelia Naylor Morris, 1906; alt.
Tune: PRAISE FOREVER (8.6.8.6.7.7.7.4. with refrain)

When Morris began to lose her sight at the age of 51, her son Will constructed a twenty-eight foot wide blackboard with musical staves so that she could continue her songwriting. Later, after she became completely blind, she dictated her compositions to her daughter Fanny, with whom she lived during the last year of her life.

There is now a historical marker honoring her outside the Methodist church in McConnelsville. In 1953, a brief biography of Morris was published, Singing At Her Work by Mary Ethel Weiss. Several of her gospel songs are still sung today.

P.S. This entry is a day late because I apparently made a typo in my notes and entered Morris's birthday on the 16th instead of the 15th.

One Year Ago: Ada Rose Gibbs

Rising Up From Grief and Tears

Easter Sunday, the Feast of the Resurrection, has finally come. If you've been to church, it was probably a great day for music, both the familiar hymns and maybe something new. I've been in a lot of different churches on a lot of different Easters, and every one has sung Jesus Christ is risen today as the opening hymn. I suppose some churches somewhere must do something else.

John Samuel Bewley Monsell was born in Ireland but became a priest in the Church of England. For some reason, this hymn never really made it into Anglican or Episcopal hymnals, though it was in some Church of Ireland collections. Later, the Lutherans took it up for some equally unknown reason.

This hymn is a pretty rousing one to close the Easter service, but I don't get to do it any more.

Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Risen our victorious Head!
Sing our praises! Alleluia!
Christ is risen from the dead!
Gratefully our hearts adore you,
As your light once more appears,
Bowing down in joy before you,
Rising up from grief and tears,

Refrain
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
Risen our victorious Head!
Sing our praises! Alleluia!
Christ is risen from the dead!
Christ is risen! all the sadness
Of our Lenten fast is o’er,
Through the open gates of gladness
You return to life once more;
Death and hell before you bending,
See, you rise, the Victor now,
Angels on your steps attending,
Glory round your wounded brow.
Refrain

Christ is risen! all the sorrow
That last evening round you lay,
Now has found a glorious morrow
In the rising of today;
See the grave, its first-fruits giving,
Springing up from holy ground,
You were dead, but now are living,
You were lost, but now are found.
Refrain

Christ is risen! henceforth never
Death or hell shall us enthrall;
Be we Christ’s, in whom forever
We have triumphed over all;
All the doubting and dejection
Of our trembling hearts have ceased,
Hail the day of resurrection!
Let us rise and keep the feast.
Refrain

John Samuel Bewley Monsell, 1863; alt.
Tune: MORGENLIED (8.7.8.7.D with refrain)
Frederick C. Maker, 1876


I'm off to take a nap.

Holy Saturday

The last day of Lent is finally here and we know the celebration of Easter is at hand. Holy Saturday, or Easter Eve, is a day of preparation, but it only lasts until dusk. After sundown, in the Anglican, Catholic, and increasingly, Lutheran traditions, the liturgy of the Great Vigil of Easter is celebrated. The prescribed lessons for this service recount the great stories from the Old Testament of God's promises, including the Creation, Noah and the ark, and the parting of the Red Sea.

Traditionally, the service may include baptisms and reception of new members, proceeds to the proclamation of the resurrection and ends with the celebration of the first Easter Eucharist. The day begins somberly, recalling the events of Good Friday, but ends in joy.

All the sacrifice is ended,
Breathed his body’s latest breath,
And his human soul hath wended
Where the weary rest beneath;
Christ's own body comprehended
All the human law of death!

Yet not there his soul remaineth
Nor his body in the tomb:
Lo! what sudden glory gaineth
Quick dominion o’er the gloom!
Yea, o’er death and hell he reigneth
Bursting back the gates of doom!

Manifold the attestation
Comrades tell the marvel o’er,
And the soldiers from their station,
And the angels at the door,
And his own Word’s revelation,
“Lo! I live for evermore.”

Hail, thou morn of resurrection,
Primal holy Easter Day!
Now the hours of deep dejection
’Neath the night-clouds’ bleak array,
Foes’ reviling, friends’ defection,
In thy glory pass away!

Savior! in our night of weeping
Tell us of the joyful morn,
Guard our souls, their vigil keeping
In the hours of hate and scorn
Raise us falling, wake us sleeping,
Till our Easter day be born.

Samuel J. Stone, 1866
Tune: ORIEL (8.7.8.7.8.7.)
Caspar Ett, 1840

This appears to be an in-between hymn, starting in the tomb and ending in Easter glory. Author Samuel Stone is known for a much more familar hymn.

Revisiting an earlier hymn presented here, I've come to recognize that O'er the shoreless waste of waters was probably intended for the Easter Vigil. Bishop How's original last verse for this baptism hymn connected the resurrection with the promises of the Old Testament. (I think my revision still works for the rest of the year.)

P.S. The painting above, The Angel is Opening Christ's Tomb, is by 17th century Dutch artist Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp.

One (Liturgical) Year Ago: Easter Eve
One (Calendar) Year Ago: Christopher Smart

Good Friday

There is a green hill far away,
Outside a city wall,
Where Jesus Christ was crucified,
Who died to save us all.

We may not know, we cannot tell,
What pains you had to bear;
But we believe it was for us
You hung and suffered there.

You died that we might be forgiv’n,
You died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heav’n,
Saved by your precious blood.

There was no other good enough
To pay the price of sin;
You only could unlock the gate
Of heaven and let us in.

O dearly, dearly you have loved,
And we must love you, too,
And trust in your redeeming blood,
And try your works to do.

Cecil Frances Alexander, 1847; alt.
Tune: HORSLEY (C.M.)
William Horsley, 1844

Maundy Thursday

Today's hymn recalls the Last Supper, on the night we now observe as Maundy Thursday. It appeared in several nineteenth-century hymnals, but is less known today.

"Remember me," the Savior said

On that forsaken night,

When from his side the nearest fled,

And death was close in sight.

Through all the following ages' track

The world remembers yet;

With love and worship gazes back,

And never can forget.

But who of us has seen his face,

Or heard the words he said?

And none can now his look retrace

In breaking of the bread.

We hear the Word along our way;

We see the Light above;

Remember when we strive and pray,

Remember when we love.

Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, 1855; alt.

Tune: DUNDEE (C.M.)

Scottish Psalter, 1615

Nathaniel Frothingham (1793 - 1870) was a Unitarian minister, ordained in 1815 when he assumed the pulpit at the First Congregational Church of Boston, where he remained for the next thirty-five years.

DUNDEE is another familiar tune, one of twelve common meter tunes in the Scottish Psalter published by Andro Hart in 1615 (where it was called FRENCH TUNE). It was first used with several psalm paraphrases and over the years many other texts have been sung to it (including some we would think of as mismatches today, such as O God, our help in ages past).

One Year Ago: Maundy Thursday

The Victor Palm Branch Waving

Holy Week begins today with Palm Sunday, as we commemorate Jesus' triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, only days before everything would change.

There are many different traditions in various Christian denominations, but a procession of some kind with palm branches is often included, and many churches encourage their youngest members to participate. This hymn first appeared in a collection of poems primarily for children, Sunshine and Shadow (1873) by Jennette Threlfall, but it has entered many hymnals for general use (often with a combination of the second and third verses, with some lines left out).

Hosanna, loud hosanna,
The little children sang;
Through pillared court and temple
The lovely anthem rang --
To Jesus, who had blessed them
Close folded to his breast,
The children sang their praises,
The simplest and the best.

From Olivet they followed
'Mid an exultant crowd,
The victor palm branch waving,
And chanting clear and loud.
Bright angels joined the chorus
Beyond the cloudless sky,
"Hosanna in the highest!
Glory to God on high!"

Fair leaves of silvery olive
They strewed upon the ground,
While Salem's circling mountains
Sent back the joyful sound.
The Savior of the nations
Rode on in lowly state,
Nor scorned that little children
Should on his bidding wait.

“Hosanna in the highest!”
That ancient song we sing,
For thou art our Redeemer,
To thee our thanks we bring.
O may we ever praise thee
With heart and life and voice,
And in thy blissful presence
Eternally rejoice!

Jennette Threlfall, 1872; alt.
Tune: ELLACOMBE (C.M.D.)
Württemberg Gesangbuch, 1774;
adapt. William H. Monk, 1868

ELLACOMBE is one of those tunes everyone seems to know and that congregations sing well. I've managed to hold off from using it for more than a year because it's not a favorite of mine (three of its four lines are practically identical), but I can't deny that it works.

One Year Ago: Palm Sunday

Calm Before the Storm

If you're at all involved in church music, you probably know what I'm talking about -- Holy Week is coming!

Nearly every Christian church probably adds at least one service to the upcoming week, and some seem to add as many as possible. Palm Sunday is followed by Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday (or the Great Vigil of Easter) and then Easter Sunday itself. It's a busy time, but it can also be a meaningful and mysterious one. Church musicians (and, ok, the clergy too) spend a lot of time in preparation before they even get to the added time commitment and pressure of the next several days.

In my own church, we will have two Palm Sunday services (up from one), services on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and three on Sunday (including sung compline at 9:00 pm). Could be worse; for a few years we did compline on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday too. The music always encompasses a wide emotional spectrum, and a broad musical range as well.

In preparation for the rigors of Holy Week (which we sometimes complain about but wouldn't miss for anything) here is a little hymn for serenity.

’Mid all the traffic of the ways,
Turmoils without, within,
Make in my heart a quiet place,
And come and dwell therein.

A little shrine of quietness,
All sacred to thyself,
Where thou shalt all my soul possess,
And I may find myself.

A little shelter from life’s stress,
Where I may pray alone,
And bare my soul in peacefulness,
And know as I am known.

A little place of mystic grace,
Of self and sin swept bare,
Where I may look into thy face,
And talk with thee in prayer.

John Oxenham, 1917; alt.
Tune: ST. AGNES (C.M.)
John Bacchus Dykes, 1866

John Oxenham was the pen-name of English writer William Dunkerley. He was a journalist who also published several novels and collections of poetry, and some of his poems have become good hymns.