HYMNS AND HYMN TUNES 



2895 



HYMNS AND HYMN TUNES 



merit or belief, as the Missionary Movement, 

 the Oxford Movement, and the evangelistic 

 movement of Moody and Sankey. Each has 

 produced notable hymns rarely sectarian and 

 usually appropriate to their purpose. The 

 character of the music of many of these is 

 vastly different from that of the earlier hymns ; 

 because of their more catchy qualities, their 

 effect upon church music in general possibly 

 has not contributed to deep devotion as surely 

 as did their more serious predecessors. 



Among the American hymn writers of note 

 were Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Greenleaf 

 Whittier, Phoebe Gary, Philip Paul Bliss, Julia 

 Ward Howe, Ray Palmer, Phillips Brooks, 

 Charles M. Gabriel and the blind hymn writer, 

 Fanny Crosby. 



The following is a list of some of the most 

 noteworthy hymns in common use in the 

 churches : 



Jesus, Lover of My Soul Charles Wesley 



Lead, Kindly Light John Henry Newman 



Abide With Me Henry Francis Lyte 



Rock of Ages Augustus M. Toplady 



There is a Land of Pure Delight Isaac Watts 



From Greenland's Icy Mountains. Reginald Heber 

 Nearer, My God, to Thee . . . Sarah Flower Adams 

 Just As I Am, Without One 



Ptea Charlotte Elliott 



One Sweetly Solemn Thought Phoebe Gary 



Safe in the Arms of Jesus Fanny Crosby 



My Faith Looks Up to Thee Ray Palmer 



I Love to Steal Awhile Away. . .Phoebe H. Brown 

 Awake My Soul, Stretch Every 



Nerve Philip Doddridge 



A Mighty Fortress is Our God Martin Luther 



Sun of My Soul John Keble 



Onward, Christian Soldiers. .Sabine Baring-Gould 

 Come, Thou Fount of Every Bless- 



in & Robert Robinson 



Sunset and Evening Star Alfred Tennyson 



How Happy is the Pilgrim's Lot John Wesley 



Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus George Duffield 



Blest Be the Tie that Binds John Fawcett 



Ten World-Famous Hymns 

 Jesus, Lover of My Soul, by Charles Wesley, 

 is one of the noblest songs of modern times em- 

 bodying Christian faith and hope. It was writ- 

 ten in 1740, and several incidents are said to have 

 suggested its composition. A terrible storm on 

 the Atlantic, in which "Wesley had a narrow 

 escape from death, is claimed by some to have 

 inspired him to present in verse the thoughts and 

 sensations of a Christian in moments of greatest 

 danger. Like the Rock of Ages, this song was 

 written in Great Britain, and both found in 

 America the tunes with which they have become 

 intimately associated. To the tune of Martyn, by 

 Simeon B. Marsh, the hymn Jesus, Lover of My 

 Soul has been borne to every land and to the 

 hearts of millions who plead for hope and faith 

 and comfort. 



Rock of Ages, by Augustus Montague Toplady 

 (1740-1778), like the preceding hymn, is a direct 



and personal appeal to God. Of it one noted 

 authority has said that "no other hymn has 

 swept the chords of the human heart with a more 

 hallowed touch." It first appeared in an unfinished 

 form in the Gospel Magazine of October, 1775 ; 

 its author, a brilliant young priest, survived its 

 publication only two years, but he lived long 

 enough to give to the religious world one of its 

 greatest songs. It has found appropriate musical 

 setting in the tune Toplady, by Dr. Thomas 

 Hastings. 



Abide With Me, by Henry, Francis Lyte (1793- 

 1847), was inspired in a memorable walk by the 

 sea. Its author, a frail, sensitive minister who 

 lived in Brixham, England, was warned to seek 

 the milder climate of Italy, as he, like Toplady, 

 was a victim of consumption. To live away from 

 the sea and the hardy fisherfolk whom he had 

 grown to love seemed impossible. What he felt 

 and what he suffered on his last memorable walk 

 beside the waters which he was about to leave 

 forever no one will know, but in those moments 

 of lonely soul communion, his great hymn had 

 its birth. He died at Nice, France, three months 

 later. The music for his hymn was composed by 

 Dr. Monk, the musical editor of Hymns, Ancient 

 and Modern. 



Just As I Am, by Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871), 

 one of the greatest of evangelistic compositions, 

 has possibly touched more lives helpfully than 

 any other hyhin, by giving people a sense of their 

 religious needs. It first appeared anonymously 

 in the Yearly Remembrancer in 1836. When 

 Miss Elliott was thirty-two her health failed. 

 While residing at Brighton, England, she became 

 oppressed by the thought of her apparent use- 

 lessness as she watched every member of her 

 family busied in the preparation of a bazaar 

 which was to help raise money for the erection 

 of a college at Brighton. She alone was too weak 

 to lend a hand. For a long while she sat lost in 

 thought. Then a feeling of peace and content- 

 ment came over her, and in this mood she wrote 

 the verses which have endeared her name to pos- 

 terity. 



Nearer, My God, to Thee, by Sarah Flower Ad- 

 ams, was suggested by the story of Jacob's vision 

 at Bethel, as found hi Genesis XXVIII, 10-22. 

 It was first published in 1841, but did not meet 

 with great favor until Dr. Lowell Mason's beauti- 

 ful music gave it a permanent place in the hearts 

 of devoted people the world over. 



Onward, Christian Soldiers, by the Rev. Sa- 

 bine Baring-Gould, is the greatest of processional 

 hymns, and was originally written for children. A 

 great school festival was to be held in a York- 

 shire village on Whit-Monday, 1865, and the pupils 

 of the Horbury Bridge School, over which the 

 author was curate, were invited to attend. As the 

 place of celebration was a considerable distance 

 away, the minister composed this stirring hymn 

 to be sung by the children while they were march- 

 ing from one village to another on their way to 

 the festival. The spirited music for it was com- 

 posed by Arthur S. Sullivan. 



From Greenland's Icy Mountains, by Regi- 

 nald Heber (1783-1826), is a famous missionary 

 hymn. Like the preceding hymn, it was written 

 at a sitting and for temporary need, with no 

 thought of its great usefulness in the future. 



