Composer and Anglican priest John Darwall was baptized on this date in 1732. For most of the last three hundred years his birthdate was unknown, but more recently both the online Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology and Glory to God: A Companion (2016) by Carl P. Daw list the date as December 27, 1731.
Dr. Daw goes on to say that Darwall was "a talented amateur musician, (who) did much to revive congregational singing at the parish where he served longest, working particularly to encourage the singing of the psalms at a less dreary tempo than had become customary."
Though he wrote tunes to accompany all of the paraphrased psalms in the New Version by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, we only sing one of those tunes today, the one which was written for Psalm 148. However, this tune is sung across most denominations and to many different texts (three others thus far on the blog, and the fourth today).
Break, day of God, O break,
The night has lingered long;
Our hearts with courage wake,
To strive against all wrong:
O Lamb of God, whose love is light,
Shine on my soul, and all is bright.
Break, day of God, O break!
The earth with strife is worn;
The hills with thunder shake,
Hearts of the people mourn;
Break, day of God, sweet day of peace,
And bid the shout of warriors cease!
Break, day of God, O break,
Like to the days above!
Let justice now awake,
And faith, and hope, and love:
For lo! we see the brightening sky;
The golden morn is drawing nigh.
Henry Burton, 1900; alt.
Tune: DARWALL (6.6.6.6.8.8.)
John Darwall, 1770
The first lines of each of Darwall's tunes can be seen at this site, though unfortunately not the whole tunes.
Seven Years Ago: John Darwall
Eight Years Ago: John Darwall
Just some administrative notes and referrals today. Post title, of course, is from this hymn.
Check out the online Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology if you have not discovered it yet. This project was conceived as a successor to the classic Dictionary of Hymnology (1892) by John Julian, but the modern scope is much broader than a single book could contain. As described on the webpage, the online Canterbury includes more than 4000 entries written by more than 300 people, from 30 countries, and is regularly updated with new entries added. Full access requires a paid subscription, but they make three random entries available each day for free. A daily grab-bag of hymnological knowledge!
If you have ever thought about attending a conference of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada but could not do it for various reasons, you can now get a small taste of the experience through several regional hymn festivals that the Society is planning in the upcoming year. One may be near you!
The Facebook page for this blog is finally up and running (at Conjubilant W. Song). It's apparently easier to access that way for some people - I get as much traffic from Facebook now as from anywhere else. I don't see Twitter links in the future, though.
Also, just FYI (who knows, there may be readers nearby...), the hymn festival below will be held on September 27 at St. Paul's on the Green Episcopal Church in Norwalk, CT (60 East Avenue), led by yours truly. We'll be singing hymn texts spanning more than four centuries (several previously discussed here), to a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar tunes (including two of my excavated tunes by 19th century women composers).
Seven Years Ago: Horatio Parker
Six Years Ago: Horatio Parker
Five Years Ago: Horatio Parker
