Frances Ridley Havergal

Today is the 180th birthday of hymnwriter and composer Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879).  She was the daughter of William Henry Havergal, a menber of the clergy of the Church of England, who also wrote and composed hymns. Her middle name was given in honor of Bishop Nicholas Ridley (c.1500-1555), an English Protestant martyr who was executed for heresy after the Roman Catholic Mary Tudor became queen (Ridley had supported the brief accession of Lady Jane Grey).

Young Frances was quite a prodigy; her father nicknamed her 'Little Quicksilver.' She began to read at age three, and to memorize the Bible at age four. She learned at least seven languages, including Greek and Hebrew so that she could further her Biblical studies.  At seven, she began to write poetry. She also memorized much piano music of the great composers of her day, sang, and composed music of her own.

As an adult, she was very involved with mission work and other social causes, including temperance and the YWCA.  She founded the Flannel Petticoat Society, which provided clothing to poor children.

Many of her early hymns were first published in pamphlet form, and the first collection of her writings was not published until 1869, only ten years before her death at 46. Over the next few years she became well known for her hymn texts and other religious poetry and prose. One of her famous correspondents was the American Fanny Crosby, and the two sometimes exchanged poems. The Seeing Heart (1872) is a long poem to Crosby by Havergal, from which the phrase "Her heart can see" was taken for the title of a modern biography of Crosby. The poem ends with the following stanza:

Singing for Jesus! Telling his love
All the way to our home above,
Where the severing sea, with its restless tide
Never shall hinder and never divide.
Sister, what shall our meeting soon be
When our hearts shall sing and our eyes shall see?

Most of Havergal's hymn texts and poetry express her deep relationship with Jesus, rarely dealing with the wider variety of themes that many Victorian hymnwriters explored.  Though I have only marked her birthday twice, several more of her texts have appeared here (click her tag below) and a few of her tunes as well. This text was published in Loyal Responses (1878) though it may have been released earlier in a pamphlet.

Christ is with us! He has said it,
In his truth and tender grace;
Sealed the promise, softly spoken,
With how many a mighty token,
Of his love and faithfulness.

Christ is with us! in our living,
Shielding us from fear of ill;
All our burdens kindly bearing,
For our loved ones gently caring,
Guarding, keeping, blessing still.

Christ is with us! with us always,
All the nights and all the days;
Never failing, never frowning,
With his loving-kindness crowning,
Tuning all our lives to praise.

Christ is with us! Our own Savior,
Leading, loving to the end;
Bright'ning joy and light'ning sorrow,
All today, yet more tomorrow,
Lamb of God, our Guide and Friend.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1878; alt.
Tune: WINDERMERE (Maker) (8.7.8.8.7.)
Frederick C. Maker, 19th cent.

The meter of this text is a bit unusual and there are not many tunes that fit it - WINDERMERE, by Frederick Maker (composer of ST. CHRISTOPHER) is a compromise.  The score may help you match the text with the words.

Havergal died of peritonitis on June 3, 1879. She had been staying for several months with her sister Maria, who wrote an account of the poet's decline which was published as The Last Week (1879). Family members were with her in her last days, and they sang together several times. Just before she died she sang her own tune, HERMAS, one last time, to the following words by Mary J. Walker:

Jesus, I will trust thee, 
Trust thee with my soul;
Guilty, lost, and helpless,
Thou canst make me whole.
There is none in heaven
Or on earth like thee:
Thou hast died for sinners—
Therefore, Lord for me.



Eight Years Ago: Frances Ridley Havergal

Seven Years Ago: Frances Ridley Havergal

Saint Mary the Virgin

The Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin on August 15 is also celebrated in some churches as the Assumption (or Dormition) of Mary.  Today's hymn is by William Chatterton Dix (1837-1898), a "committed High Church Anglican," according to the new book by Carl P. Daw Jr., Glory to God: A Companion (2016).  The hymn has also certainly been sung by Roman Catholics, as it appeared in the St. Alban's Hymnal (1921) and probably some others.

Every generation, Mary, calls thee blessed,
Lady, first of women by the Church confessed.
Since Saint Gabriel's message fell upon thine ear,
Filling thee with gladness and with holy cheer.

Refrain
Blessed then and always, Christ's dear Mother thou,
Mary, highly favored, God is with thee now.

Graced by God the Spirit, gone to take thy place,
Hail thou Queen of Heaven, hail thou, full of grace
Virgin, yet a mother, clothed in sunlight now,
Mary, Israel's Lily, earth's dear mother thou.
Refrain

Mary, Star of ocean, light within the gloom,
Since the Holy Flower chose in thee to bloom;
Though so far above us, Mother, thou art ours,
In the world's hard conflict, in death's lonely hours.
Refrain

Unto our Creator, joyful songs we sing,
Unto Christ our Brother, thankful hearts we bring,
To the Holy Spirit, bow we and adore,
As doth faithful Mary, now and evermore.
Refrain

William Chatterton Dix, 19th cent.; alt.
Tune: HERMAS (6.5.6.5.D. with refrain)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

The tune HERMAS, by Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), is her most well-known composition, and probably the only tune of hers that people might recognize, though she wrote several more.


P.S. The painting above, The Assumption of Mary (1835), is by French painter Charles LeBrun, once called "the greatest French artist of all time" by King Louis XIV.



Eight Years Ago: Ye who claim the faith of Jesus

Seven Years Ago: Hail, holy Queen!

Six Years Ago: Sing, sing, ye angel bands

Five Years Ago: Virgin born, we bow before thee

Four Years Ago: Let today above all other

Three Years Ago:  Hail, Queen of heav'n, the ocean star

One Year Ago:  Behold her open grave, adorned

William Henry Havergal

William Henry Havergal, born today in 1793, may have been one of the people most responsible for the immense surge in hymn singing in England in the middle of the nineteenth century.  He and Henry J. Gauntlett worked to adapt and arrange older melodies, such as psalm tunes and chorales from Germany into the four-part harmonies that we still sing today (much like Lowell Mason was doing in the United States).  He composed a number of original hymn tunes and also wrote hymn texts.

Havergal was ordained in the Church of England in 1816, serving several churches, the longest in Astley, a village in Worcestershire, where he is buried.  

Today's hymn has both a text by Havergal as well as one of his arrangements, adapted from a sixteenth-century German melody.

To praise our Shepherd's care,
His wisdom, love, and might,
Your loudest, loftiest songs prepare,
And bid the world unite.

Supremely good and great,
He tends his earthly fold;
And stoops, though throned in highest state,
The weary to uphold.

He hears their softest plaint, 
Follows them when they roam;
And if one single lamb should faint,
His bosom bears it home.

Kind Shepherd of the sheep,
A faithful flock are we,
And snares and foes are nigh, but keep
The lambs who look to thee.

William Henry Havergal, 19th cent.; alt.
Tune: NARENZA (S.M.)
Catholicum Hymnologium, 1584;
arr. William Henry Havergal, 1847

One of his daughters, Frances Ridley Havergal, followed in his line of work as a writer of hymns and composer of tunes.  Havergal is now mostly remembered for his tunes rather than his texts, while the texts of Frances are most familiar and her tunes are all but unknown.  Following Havergal's death in 1870, Frances edited a collection of his tunes and arrangements which was published in 1871.



Another Commemoration Today: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Seven Years Ago: William Henry Havergal

Four Years Ago: The Confession of Saint Peter

One Year Ago: The Confession of Saint Peter

The Feast of All Saints

Today is All Saints' Day though many churches will celebrate it tomorrow.  My own congregation will mark it both days as today we have more than twenty people being confirmed by a visiting bishop, and tomorrow we will have our regular feast-day liturgy, to which many look forward.

Several of the hymns for this day are fairly long, so today's text might be a good alternative, especially for time-conscious worship leaders.  It still covers all the bases, praising saints both known and unknown and expressing our own aspirations to join that heavenly throng.

Eternal God, we give you praise and glory
For the bright cloud of witnesses unseen,
Whose names shine forth like stars, in sacred story,
Guiding our steps to realms of light serene;

And for your unknown saints, our praise adoring,
Fount of all sanctity, to you we yield,
Who in your treasure-house on high, are storing
Jewels who luster was, on earth, concealed.

Though, in your service, we have often slumbered,
Like the ten maidens, foolish ones and wise;
Yet with your saints, may we at last be numbered,
And at your call with burning lamps arise.

Mary Ann Thomson, 1889; alt.
Tune: EIRENE (11.10.11.10.)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

The parable of the wise and foolish maidens (or bridesmaids, or virgins) is from Matthew 25:1-13, and although that lesson is most often read during Advent it also speaks to our own hopes of heaven.

Mary Ann Thomson (1834-1923) is still known today in many places as the author of O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling, a missionary hymn that some might find outdated.  I recently encountered it after several  years at a funeral for an Episcopal priest, a woman who was active in the work of the church long before she ever had any hope of ordination.  The gathered congregation, including many priests of an older generation, belted it out with enthusiasm, conveying the significance that it clearly held for them.  I began to understand it in a more general way, taking from it the sense of doing the work of the gospel in the world rather than converting the world to one religion.



Six Years Ago: Who are these like stars appearing?

Five Years Ago: For all the saints

Four Years Ago: The saints of God! their conflict past

Two Years Ago: Hark! the sound of holy voices

New Songs In the Night

New mercies, new blessings, new light on our way;

New courage, new hope, and new strength for each day;

New notes of thanksgiving, new chords of delight;

New praise in the morning, new songs in the night;

New wine in our chalice, new altars to raise;

New fruits for the harvest, new garments of praise;

New gifts from his treasures, new smiles from his face;

New streams from the fountain of infinite grace;

New stars for our crowns and new tokens of love;

New gleams of the glory that waits us above;

New light of his countenance full and unpriced --

All this be the joy of our new life in Christ.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1879; alt.

Tune: FOUNDATION (11.11.11.11.)

A Compilation of Genuine Church Music, 1832

This text was originally titled "A Happy New Year to You." For many years, its author, Frances Ridley Havergal  (whose birthday I missed earlier this month) sent out a New Years' poem such as this to her correspondents. We have seen two others on the blog in previous years:

Another year is dawning

Standing at the portal

The composer of the familiar tune FOUNDATION has never been identified since its first appearance in A Compilation of Genuine Church Music (1832), edited by Joseph Funk (where the tune was named PROTECTION) and published in Virginia.

Onward to another year at CWS, and our upcoming fifth anniversary.

Four Years Ago: Bessie Porter Head

Three Years Ago: O God, by whom all change is wrought

One Year Ago: O God, whom neither time nor space

John Samuel Bewley Monsell

Today is the 101st birthday of John Samuel Bewley Monsell, born in Londonderry in 1811, the son of an archdeacon. He attended Trinity College in Dublin and was ordained in 1834, serving several parishes in Ireland before coming to England in 1853.

From 1870-1875 he was the rector of St. Nicolas' Church in Guildford and was also chaplain to Queen Victoria during that time. He became interested in the Oxford Movement (that influence can be seen in some of his hymn texts) but never converted to Roman Catholicism as some Anglicans did in his time.

He published eleven volumes of poetry, which included approximately 300 hymns (about a third of which are listed at the Cyber Hymnal), some of which are still sung today. We have seen one here a while back: Christ is risen! Alleluia! One of his most well-known hymns is Fight the good fight with all thy might, and this is possibly the other, first published in Hymns of Love and Praise for the Church's Year (1863).

On our way rejoicing,
As we homeward move,
Hearken to our praises,
O thou God of love!
Is there grief or sadness?
Thou our joy shalt be;
Is our sky beclouded?
There is light in thee.

Refrain:
On our way rejoicing,
As we onward move,
Hearken to our praises,
O thou God of love!

If with honest hearted
Love for God and all,
Day by day thou find us
Answering thy call,
Thou who giv’st the seed time,
Wilt give large increase,
Crown the head with blessings,
Fill the heart with peace.
Refrain

On our way rejoicing
Gladly let us go;
Conquered hath our Leader,
Vanquished is the foe!
Christ without, our safety,
Christ within, our joy;
Who, if we be faithful,
Can our hope destroy?
Refrain

Unto God the Maker
Joyful songs we sing;
Unto God the Savior
Thankful hearts we bring;
Unto God the Spirit
Bow we and adore;
On our way rejoicing
Now and evermore.
Refrain

John Samuel Bewley Monsell, 1863; alt.
Tune: HERMAS (6.5.6.5.D. with refrain)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

This is probably Havergal's most well-known tune, though I have found more than a dozen others composed by her that have not appeared in any hymnals in the last century.

Monsell died in 1875 durinig the construction of the current church building of his parish of St. Nicolas, though I have read at least three different accounts of exactly how it happened. He either fell from the roof, fell from a boulder at the site, or was struck by falling masonry, and died from a subsequent infection. And these accounts are all from pre-internet sources, so we can't blame Wikipedia!


Three Years Ago: All beautiful the march of days

Maundy Thursday

Today we remember the final night that Jesus spent with his friends before his death and the events of their evening together as they gathered for a meal. That Last Supper has been depicted in art and poetry in many different ways (such as the painting above by Tintoretto).

Today's hymn is inspired by just one verse in the Gospel story of the day. Matthew 26:26-30 recounts the disciples' gathering, and ends with "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." This text by Frances Ridley Havergal, part of a longer poem, imagines that the hymn they sang together, the last time they would sing before Jesus died, must have been something very unique.

Within an upper room they met,
A small, yet faithful band,
On whom a deep, yet chast'ning grief
Had laid its soft'ning hand.
Disciples seated 'round have heard
Their friend and Savior tell
That he with them no longer now
As heretofore may dwell.

The hour is come, but ere they meet
Its terrors, yet once more
Their voices blend with his who sang
As none e'er sung before.
Why do they linger on that note?
Why thus the sound prolong?
Ah! 'Twas the last, 'tis ended now,
That strangely solemn song.

And forth they go, the song is past;
But like the roseleaf, still,
Whose fragrance does not die away,
Its soft, low echoes thrill.
Through many a soul, and there awake
New strains of glowing praise
To Christ who, on that fateful eve,
That last sweet hymn did raise.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1855; alt.
Tune: PENMAENMAWR (C.M.D.)
Sarah G. Stock, 1887

It's unlikely that this hymn would find its way into a service nowadays, dealing as it does with such a small part of the Passion story, but it's the part we celebrate here, of singing hymns together.

Sarah Geraldina Stock wrote both hymn tunes and texts, as well as several popular books for children on religious subjects. PENMAENMAWR (named for the town in Wales where she lived) seems like a tune that's just as unusual as this text, so they made a good pairing.


Three Years Ago: Maundy Thursday

Two Years Ago: Maundy Thursday

One Year Ago: Maundy Thursday

Another Year With Thee

I've written before on this date how hymnwriter Frances Ridley Havergal had an annual New Years' custom of sending a new poem to her many correspondents. Many of these then received wider distribution in her various collections of verse and some have even made their way into hymnals. Today's hymn may be the most well-known of these, from 1874.

Another year is dawning,
Creator, let it be
In working or in waiting,
Another year with thee.
Another year of progress,
Another year of praise,
Another year of proving
Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies,
Of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness
In the shining of thy face;
Another year of leaning
Upon thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting,
Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service,
Of witness for thy love,
Another year of training
For holier work above.
Another year is dawning,
Creator, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven,
Another year for thee.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1874; alt.
Tune: AURELIA (7.6.7.6.D.)
Samuel Sebastian Wesley, 1864

Two Years Ago: Bessie Porter Head

One Year Ago: O God, by whom all change is wrought

Eliza Scudder

Hymnwriter Eliza Scudder was born today in Massachusetts in 1821. In childhood she was very close to her older sister Rebecca; this closeness lasted throughout their lives, and the sisters actually died on the same day in 1896.

Scudder was greatly influenced by the abolotionist movement and two of its leaders in particular: the philanthropist Gerrit Smith and the author Lydia Maria Child. It is believed that her association with Child led her away from the Congregational faith of her family and into an interest in the Unitarian Church (though it's not clear she ever formally joined it), which caused a break with many of her friends. Some years later she was drawn to the Episcopal Church through the preaching and then the friendship of Phillips Brooks, the popular rector of Trinity Church in Boston.

This flexibilty in her religious thought probably means that it's difficult to assign her hymn texts to any particular set of beliefs, and her hymns were indeed sung in several different denominations. Her short 1880 collection, Hymns and Sonnets, contained this text.

Grant us your peace, down from your presence falling
As on the thirsty earth cool night-dews sweet,
Grant us your peace, to your own paths recalling,
From distant ways, our worn and wand'ring feet.

Grant us your peace, through winning and through losing,
Through gloom and gladness of our pilgrim way,
Grant us your peace, safe in your love's enclosing,
Who o'er all things in heav'n and earth hold sway.

Grant us your peace, that like a deep'ning river
Swells ever onward to a sea of praise;
Jesus, of peace the only Source and Giver,
Grant us your peace, O Savior, all our days!

Eliza Scudder, 1880; alt.
Tune: EIRENE (11.10.11.10)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

Two Years Ago: Eliza Scudder

Days of Lengthening Light

It's probably not that common to sing two hymns with tunes by the same composer in the same worship service unless it's an intentional choice. It happened today in my church, apparently by coincidence, but, as noted here before, Arthur Sullivan did write four different hymn tunes commonly used for Easter texts. We sang the two most common, LUX EOI and ST. KEVIN, but this one is in our hymnal too.

"Welcome, happy morning!"
Age to age shall say:
Hell today is vanquished,
Heav'n is won today!
Lo! the dead is living,
Christ for evermore!
Thou their true Creator,
all thy works adore!

Refrain
"Welcome, happy morning!"
Age to age shall say!

Earth her joy confesses,
Clothing her for spring,
All fresh gifts returning
On the morning's wing:
Bloom in every meadow,
Leaves on every bough,
Speak thy sorrow ended,
Hail thy triumph now.
Refrain

Months in due succession,
Days of lengthening light,
Hours and passing moments
Praise thee in their flight.
Brightness of the morning,
sky and fields and sea,
Vanquisher of sadness,
bring their praise to thee.
Refrain

Thou, of life the Author,
Death didst undergo,
Tread the path of weakness,
Saving strength to show;
Come then, true and faithful,
Now fulfill thy word,
'Tis thine own third morning!
Rise, to life restored!
Refrain

Loose the souls long prisoned,
bound with sorrow's chain;
All that now is fallen
Rise to life again;
Show thy face in glory,
Bid the nations see;
Bring again our daylight:
Day returns with thee!
Refrain

Venantius Honorius Fortunatus, 6th cent,
tr. John Ellerton, 1868; alt.
Tune: FORTUNATUS (6.5.6.5.D. with refrain)
Arthur S. Sullivan, 1872

This text appears in several other hymnals to the tune HERMAS, the most well-known tune written by Frances Ridley Havergal, which is also a good match (it doesn't use the refrain).

Sullivan's fourth Eastertide tune, RESURREXIT, has not lasted as well, though I'm sure there have been services somewhere which used all four

Light Our Desert Pathway (Day Eight)

Popular Victorian hymnwriter Frances Ridley Havergal carried out a special annual New Years' tradition. Each year for many years she would write a poem for the occasion and distribute it to her friends and associates. They varied in length, but some of the longer ones (such as the one I wrote about last year) have had a more extended life as hymns.

This short Christmas text, a prayer by Havergal, conveys a different mood from the ones I have been presenting, but I think it's important to remember that not everyone is always in the mood for shepherds and angels and tidings of great joy at this time of year.

Mists and clouds and shadows
Veil the wintry hour
But the sun dispels them
With its rising pow'r.

Mists and clouds and shadows
Often dim our day,
But a Christmas glory
Shines upon our way.

May the Child of Christmas
Counsellor and Friend
Light our desert pathway
Ever, to the end.

Frances Ridley Havergal, date unknown; alt.
Tune: NORTH COATES (6.5.6.5.)
Timothy R. Matthews, 1862

Timothy Matthews has another more well-known tune sometimes sung around this time of year. North Coates was the village in Lincolnshire where he served as rector for many years.

One of my favorite Christmas ornaments on our tree when I was growing up was a small lantern, which came to mind when thinking about this hymn. The illustration above was as close as I could come to it.

Frances Ridley Havergal

Frances Ridley Havergal (December 14, 1836 - June 3, 1879) was born in the small village of Astley, Worcestershire. She followed in the footsteps of her father, William Henry Havergal, also a writer and composer of hymns, and though she remained in his shadow during his lifetime (where her stepmother wanted Frances to remain), today she is more well known and her hymns are more widely sung.

As she once described her own hymnwriting process: Writing is like praying for me; for I never seem to write even a verse by myself [...] Very often I have a most distinct and happy consciousness of direct answers.

Havergal recorded the completion of this hymn in November, 1870, though it was not published until 1874 in her collection titled Under the Surface. Its theme comes from 1 Peter 1:8 -- Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

O Savior, precious Savior,
Whom yet unseen we love!
O Name of might and favor,
All other names above!
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise thee, and confess thee
Our Life, our Hope, our Spring.

O Bringer of salvation,
Who wondrously hast wrought,
Thyself the revelation
Of love beyond our thought;
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise thee, and confess thee
Our Life, our Hope, our Spring.

In thee all fullness dwelleth,
All grace and power divine;
The glory that excelleth,
O Child of God, is thine;
We worship thee, we bless thee,
To thee, O Christ, we sing:
We praise thee, and confess thee
Our Life, our Hope, our Spring.

O grant the consummation
Of this our song above,
In endless adoration,
And everlasting love!
Then shall we praise and bless thee
Where perfect praises ring,
And evermore confess thee
Our Life, our Hope, our Spring.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1870; alt.
Tune: WATERMOUTH (7.6.7.6.D.)
Arthur Henry Mann, 1881

In his study of women hymnwriters, Songs From the Hearts of Women (1903), writer Nicholas Smith writes of Havergal: From her consecrated girlhood to the hour of her departure, her prayer was that her life might be one anthem unto her Redeemer.


One Year Ago: Frances Ridley Havergal

Marion Franklin Ham

Marion Franklin Ham (February 18, 1867 - July 23, 1956) was born in Harveysburg, Ohio, where he grew up and completed high school.

Early association with the peculiar beauty of the fertile valleys of southern Ohio developed and fostered the poetic sentiment within him, according to a biographical sketch printed in the Magazine of Poetry in 1894. His first book of poetry, The Golden Shuttle (1896) was published to mixed reviews, though it was apparently successful enough to go through at least three printings. He was then living in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he had joined the Unitarian Church. In 1898 he was ordained, despite having no college education.

From Tennessee, he moved to Dallas, pastoring the First Unitarian congregation there, then went on to churches in Massachusetts. His earliest hymns appeared in the Unitarian New Hymn and Tune Book (1914), including one we have seen before and this one.

I hear thy voice, within the silence speaking;
Above earth's din it rises, calm and clear;
Whatever goal my yearning soul is seeking,
Its whispered message tells me thou art near.

In sorrow's hour, when frowning storm-clouds hide thee,
And faith can see no friendly stars above,
Still, through the gloom, thy words of comfort guide me,
And I find light and shelter in thy love.

When troubles come, our doubt and fear revealing,
And all the good seems sadly marred by wrong,
Amidst the discord, like sweet music stealing,
Thy voice, abiding, fills my soul with song.

O living voice, within the silence calling!
My spirit answers, wheresoe'er I roam;
Through life's brief day still keep my feet from falling,
And lead me, though the evening shadows, home.

Marion Franklin Ham, 1912; alt.
Tune: EIRENE (11.10.11.10)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

Ham continued to write hymns for the rest of his life (many are still under copyright) which appeared in different denominational hymnals. His most well-known hymn to the Unitarians is probably As tranquil streams that meet and merge (1933), which became a sort of anthem for the joining of the Unitarian and Universalist denominations, long-discussed but only brought to fruition in 1961, after his death.

EIRENE is a tune by Frances Ridley Havergal, who remains primarily known for her hymn texts. I think some of her tunes are definitely worth another look.

William Henry Havergal

William Henry Havergal (January 18, 1793 - April 19, 1870) was a composer, hymnwriter and hymnologist. Ordained in 1817, he served as rector in three different parishes until his health forced him to retire in 1867. In fact, his health was never very good; a carriage accident in 1829 disabled him and he turned to composing music as a form of relaxation, then a few years later he lost most of his sight.

He made a study of hymn tunes and in 1844 published a reprint of the Thomas Ravenscroft Whole Booke of Psalmes, which had been originally published in 1618. He followed this with Old Church Psalmody (1847), another collection of older tunes, many with his new arrangements. Later, he brought out A Hundred Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1859) which were all new compositions. A History of the Old Hundredth Psalm Tune appeared in 1854. He also wrote hymn texts in addition to other sacred compositions, and many of his sermons were published.

To praise our Shepherd's care,
That wisdom, love, and might,
Our loudest, loftiest songs prepare
And bid the world unite!

Supremely good and great,
Christ tends the earthly fold;
And stoops, though throned in highest state
The weary to uphold.

Kind Shepherd of the sheep,
A wandering flock are we,
And snares and foes are nigh; but keep
The lambs who look to thee.

And if through death's sad vale
Our feet should early tread,
Oh, may we reach thy fold, and hail
The love which has us led.

William Henry Havergal, 19th c.; alt.
Tune: SWABIA (S.M.)
Johann Speiss, 1745;
arr. William Henry Havergal, 1847

Most of his texts and tunes are little known today. SWABIA is still found in some modern hymnals, though I don't know that it's anyone's favorite tune (someone will no doubt show up now to tell me that it is); also surviving is EVAN, an original Havergal tune. William Henry is probably better known today as the father of another hymnwriter and composer, Frances Ridley Havergal.

The painting below, by an unknown artist, depicts St. Nicholas' church in Worcester, where Havergal was rector for eighteen years and was probably painted around the time he was there. However, the church was closed in 1990 and is now a pub/restaurant, part of the "Slug & Lettuce" chain (if you should ever find yourself in Worcester).

Frances Ridley Havergal

Today we mark the birthday of Frances Ridley Havergal (1836 - 1879), surely one of the most famous women hymnwriters. She was born into a musical family; her father, William Henry Havergal, was an evangelical minister who also wrote hymns and composed hymn tunes. Frances learned to play the piano at an early age, and wrote her first poems at seven. She became fluent in at least six languages, and memorized much of the Bible.

Havergal was in poor health for much of her life, though she did manage to travel to Germany in 1852 for a year of study, where she also wrote her first hymn. She became more and more dedicated to her religion, and after 1873 it was said that she only sang and played sacred music. She was also involved in several philanthopic causes.

Her hymns appeared in a few small volumes and periodicals during her lifetime. Her most famous hymn, still sung today, is the consecration hymn Take my life and let it be, which is sung in many denominations. Much less known are the several tunes she composed, though this one still appears today in some hymnals. Her text, though not an Advent one, seems appropriate as the end of the year comes closer.

Standing at the portal
Of the opening year,
Words of comfort meet us,
Hushing every fear;
Spoken thru the silence
By our Maker’s voice,
Tender, strong and faithful,
Making us rejoice.

Refrain
Onward, then, and fear not,
Live the words we pray,
For God's Word shall never,
Never pass away.

“I, your God, am with thee,
Be thou not afraid;
I will help and strengthen
Be thou not dismayed.
Yea, I will uphold thee
With my own right hand;
Thou art called and chosen
In my sight to stand.”
Refrain

For the year before us,
O what rich supplies!
For our care and comfort
Living streams shall rise;
For the sad and doubting
Shall God's grace abound;
For the faint and weary
Perfect strength be found.
Refrain

God will never fail us,
God will not forsake;
The eternal covenant
God will never break.
Resting on the promise,
What have we to fear?
God is all sufficient
For the coming year.
Refrain

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1873; alt.
Tune: HERMAS (6.5.6.5.D. with refrain)
Frances Ridley Havergal, 1871

HERMAS was not written especially for this text, but for an earlier one by Havergal. It has been used for several other hymns over the years.

About a year before her death at age 43, Frances and her sister Maria moved to a part of south Wales called The Mumbles. After Frances's passing, Maria published Memorials of Frances Ridley Havergal, as well as a collected edition of her hymns and many of her letters. Today, an organization called the Havergal Trust, based in Missouri, is working to keep her works alive and available.

Sir Arthur Sullivan

Arthur Seymour Sullivan, born on this day in 1842, was one of the most pre-eminent composers of the Victorian era, though his fame was not in the arena he would have preferred. He became best known for his collaboration with W.S. Gilbert on fourteen comic operas, but he wanted to be admired for his more serious output. He was probably wrong about that.

However, Sullivan did produce a good number of anthems and hymn tunes, as well as four major choral works (The Prodigal Son, The Light of the World, The Martyr of Antioch, and The Golden Legend). This church and choral music was hugely popular in its time and for many years after, but has gradually fallen out of favor.

His best-known hymn tune has always been ST. GERTRUDE, but even that is in danger of becoming lost, since the text it is nearly always paired with is Onward, Christian soldiers. Over the last twenty years, most new hymnals have left out that hymn, and now a whole generation of churchgoers haven't learned Sullivan's tune either.

The Unitarians came up with a solution even before the "problem" of OCS's militaristic language became widely expressed in other denominations, by pairing the tune with a different text.

Forward through the ages, in unbroken line,
Move the faithful spirits at the call divine;
Gifts in diff'ring measure, hearts of one accord,
Manifold the service, one the sure reward.

Refrain
Forward through the ages, in unbroken line,
Move the faithful spirits at the call divine.

Wider grows the vision, reign of love and light;
For it we must labor till our faith is sight
Prophets have proclaimed it, martyrs testified,
Poets sung its glory, heroes for it died.
Refrain

Not alone we conquer, not alone we fall;
In each loss or triumph, lose or triumph all.
Bound by God's far purpose in one living whole,
Move we on together to the shining goal.
Refrain

Frederick Lucian Hosmer, 1908; alt.
Tune: ST. GERTRUDE (6.5.6.5.D. with Refrain)
Arthur Seymour Sullivan, 1871

There was, in fact, a real Saint Gertrude, but following Victorian custom, Sullivan really named this after an acquaintance, Gertrude Clay Ker Seymer, at whose country home he composed the tune.

Most of Sullivan's hymn tunes were composed early in his career. He edited a hymnal, Church Hymns With Tunes, published in 1874. I've been looking through it and it's not exactly what might be expected, that is, stuffed full of the high-Victorian tunes of his colleagues in the church music business. While there is certainly some of that (including thirty-eight of his own tunes and even more of his arrangements and harmonizations), the tunes of popular contemporaries like John Bacchus Dykes and Joseph Barnby are really not very prevalent, especially when compared with other hymnals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sullivan uses many German melodies, older English composers such as Gibbons and Tallis, Lowell Mason to represent the Americans, and psalter tunes from the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as some older chant melodies. Yes, some of these things are "arranged," but I was surprised at the breadth of the music offered. Sullivan also included five hymns with tunes by women, a very high percentage for that time. I don't think there are many other hymnals with three tunes by Frances Ridley Havergal.

Toward the end of his life, he was commissioned to write a tune for a hymn written by Bishop William Walsham How to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The tune, BISHOPGARTH, was sung with How's O King of Kings, whose reign of old throughout the churches of England on Sunday, June 20, 1897. Four more tunes were discovered and published after his death in 1900. Critics continue to debate his overall contribution to hymnody, but there aren't many people who have written anything so familiar as ST. GERTRUDE.