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A gladsome hymn of praise we sing

Author: Ambrose Nichols Blatchford, 1842-1924 Meter: 8.7.8.7 Appears in 28 hymnals Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness; God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Lyrics: 1 A gladsome hymn of praise we sing, and thankfully we gather to bless the love of God above, our everlasting Father. 2 In Him rejoice with heart and voice, His glory fading never, whose providence is our defence, who lives and loves for ever. [Refrain] 3 Full in His sight His children stand, by His strong arm defended, and He whose wisdom guides the world our footsteps has attended. [Refrain] 4 For nothing falls unknown to Him– or care or joy or sorrow; and He, whose mercy ruled the past, Will be our stay tomorrow. [Refrain] Used With Tune: DOMINUS REGIT ME

My times are in Your hand

Author: William Freeman Lloyd, 1791-1853 Meter: 6.6.8.6 Appears in 301 hymnals Topics: God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Lyrics: 1 My times are in Your hand; my God, I wish them there! My life, my friends, my soul, I leave entirely to Your care. 2 My times are in Your hand whatever they may be, pleasing or painful, dark or bright, as You know best for me. 3 My times are in Your hand; why should I doubt or fear? My Father's hand will never cause His child a needless tear. 4 My times are in Your hand: Jesus, the Crucified; those hands my cruel sins had pierced are now my guard and guide. 5 My times are in Your hand; such faith You give to me that after death, at Your right hand I shall for ever be. Used With Tune: DENNIS (RIPON) Text Sources: Adapt.: Compilers of Praise!, 2000

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Author: Thomas O. Chisholm Meter: 11.10.11.10 with refrain Appears in 184 hymnals Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness First Line: Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father Lyrics: 1 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, there is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not. as Thou hast been Thou for ever wilt be. Refrain: Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided– great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! 2 Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in manifold witness to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love. [Refrain] 3 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! [Refrain] -- ALTERNATE VERSION - 1 Great is Your faithfulness, O God my Father, You have fulfilled all Your promise to me; You never fail and Your love is unchanging; all You have been You for ever will be. Refrain: Great is Your faithfulness, great is Your faithfulness, morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Your hand has provided: great is Your faithfulness, Father, to me. 2 Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest, sun, moon and stars in their courses above, join with all nature in eloquent witness to Your great faithfulness, mercy and love. [Refrain] 3 Pardon for sin, and a peace everlasting, Your living presence to cheer and to guide; strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow, these are the blessings Your love will provide. [Refrain] Used With Tune: FAITHFULNESS Text Sources: Adapt.: Jubilate Hymns

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Tune authorities

DOMINUS REGIT ME

Meter: 8.7.8.7 Appears in 366 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: John Bacchus Dykes, 1823-1876 Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness; God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Tune Key: G Major Incipit: 35433 22155 67132 Used With Text: A gladsome hymn of praise we sing

ABBOT'S LEIGH

Meter: 8.7.8.7 D Appears in 164 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Cyril Vincent Taylor, 1907-1991 Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness Tune Key: D Major Incipit: 53111 76655 34565 Used With Text: God is love: let heaven adore Him

SALZBURG

Meter: 8.6.8.6 Appears in 83 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Michael Haydn, 1737-1806 Topics: God Through the Years His Guidance Tune Sources: Harm.: compilers of Revised Church Hymnary, 1927 Tune Key: E Flat Major Incipit: 13554 33211 17154 Used With Text: O God of Bethel, by whose hand

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Instances

Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals

Now thank we all our God

Author: Martin Rinkart, 1586-1649; Catherine Winkworth, 1827-1878 Hymnal: The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #95 (2004) Meter: 6.7.6.7.6.6.6.6 Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness; God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Lyrics: 1 Now thank we all our God with heart and hands and voices; such wonders He has done! In Him the world rejoices, who, from our mothers' arms has blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love and still is ours today. 2 So may this generous God through all our life be near us; to fill our hearts with joy and with His peace to cheer us, to keep us in His grace and guide us when perplexed; to free us from all ills in this world and the next. 3 All praise and thanks to God who reigns in highest heaven, to Father and to Son and Spirit now be given– the one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore– for so it was, is now and shall be evermore. Amen. Languages: English Tune Title: NUN DANKET

Heavenly Father, You have brought us

Author: Hester Periam Hawkins, 1848-1928 Hymnal: The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #133 (2004) Meter: 8.7.8.7 D Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness; God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Lyrics: 1 Heavenly Father, You have brought us safely to the present day, gently leading on our footsteps, watching o’er us all the way. Friend and guide through life’s long journey, grateful hearts to You we bring; but for love so true and changeless how shall we fit praises sing? 2 Mercies new and never-failing brightly shine through all the past, watchful care and loving-kindness always near from first to last, tender love, divine protection ever with us day and night; blessings more than we can number strew the path with golden light. 3 Shadows deep have crossed our pathway, we have trembled in the storm; clouds have gathered round so darkly that we could not see Your form; yet Your love has never left us in our griefs to be alone, and the help each gave the other was the strength that is Your own. 4 Many that we loved have left us, reaching first their journey’s end; now they wait to give us welcome, brother, sister, child, and friend. When at last our journey’s over, and we pass away from sight, Father, take us through the darkness into everlasting light. Languages: English Tune Title: RUSTINGTON

O Christ the same, through all our story's pages

Author: Timothy Dudley-Smith, b. 1926 Hymnal: The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #135 (2004) Meter: 11.10.11.10.11.10.11.12 Topics: God Through the Years New Year - Old Year Languages: English Tune Title: LONDONDERRY AIR

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People

Authors, composers, editors, etc.

Nahum Tate

1652 - 1715 Person Name: Nahum Tate, 1652-1715 Topics: God Through the Years His Providence Author of "Through all the changing scenes of life" in The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook Nahum Tate was born in Dublin and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, B.A. 1672. He lacked great talent but wrote much for the stage, adapting other men's work, really successful only in a version of King Lear. Although he collaborated with Dryden on several occasions, he was never fully in step with the intellectual life of his times, and spent most of his life in a futile pursuit of popular favor. Nonetheless, he was appointed poet laureate in 1692 and royal historiographer in 1702. He is now known only for the New Version of the Psalms of David, 1696, which he produced in collaboration with Nicholas Brady. Poverty stricken throughout much of his life, he died in the Mint at Southwark, where he had taken refuge from his creditors, on August 12, 1715. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Jean Sibelius

1865 - 1957 Person Name: Jean Sibelius, 1865, 1957 Topics: God Through the Years His Faithfulness Composer of "FINLANDIA" in The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook Johann Julius Christian [Jean] Sibelius DM Finland 1865-1957. Born at Hameenlinna, Finland, the son of a Swedish-speaking medical doctor, he lost his father to typhoid in 1868, leaving the family in substantial debt. His mother, again pregnant, had to sell their property and move in with her widowed mother. His aunt Julia gave him piano lessons when he was seven on the family upright piano, wrapping him on the knuckles when he played a wrong note. He learned to improvise as he played. His uncle, Pehr Ferdinand Sibelius, was interested in music, especially the violin, and gave Jean a violin when he was 10. As his musical advisor his uncle encouraged him to play and compose music. He played music with sister on piano, brother on cello, and himself on violin. He attended a Finnish-speaking prep school in 1874 and continued his education at the Hameenlinna Normal Lyceum thereafter. Jean also showed a strong interest in nature, frequently walking around the countryside when the family moved to the Loviisa coast for the summer months. In 1881 he took violin lessons from the local bandmaster, and developed a strong interest in violin. He became an accomplished player, and thought of becoming a virtuoso, but realizing he began study too late in life for that, instead opted to compose. He often played music in quartets with neighboring families, adding to his chamber music experience. He took the French form of his name, Jean. He studied law at the Imperial Alexander University in Finland, but showed far more interest in music. He then studied music at the Helsinki Music Institute (now Sibelius Academy) from 1885-1889. The school’s founder, Martin Wegelius, did much to support education development in Finland and gave Sibelius his first lessons in composition. Another teacher,,Ferruccio Busoni, a pianist-composer, helped him as well and became a life-long friend. Other friends, pianist Adolf Paul, and conductor-to-be, Armas Jarnefelt, also helped him. In 1892 he married Armas ‘s sister, Aino Jarnefelt, daughter of General Alexander Jarnefelt, governor of Vaasa. They had six daughters, Eva, Ruth, Kirsti, Katarina, Margareta, and Heidi. He continued his musical studies in Berlin (1889-1890) with Albert Becker, and in Vienna (1890-1891) with Robert Fuchs and Karl Goldmark. In Berlin he had opportunity to attend concerts and operas. In Vienna he turned to orchestral composition and had much success, although he had gallstone surgery during that period. He also traveled to the UK, France, Germany, and the USA during this time in his life, composing, conducting, and socializing. In 1892 he took on teaching assignments at the Music Institute and at Kajanus’s conducting school, but this left him with little time for composing. Sibelius’ works were more and more appreciated in Helsinki concert halls as he composed and conducted symphonies in the mid-1890s. In 1898 he was awarded a substantial grant, initially for 10 years, and later extended for life, allowing him to concentrate on composition. Much of his music became popular in Finland and in Germany. In 1899 he began work on his first symphony. It went well, but other patriotic music hehad composed did even better, since Russia was trying to restrict the powers of the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1900 Sibelius went on an international tour with Kajanus and his orchestra, presenting his recent works. In 1901 he wrote his second symphony, which received rave reviews. He continued to compose as he became popular and well-known. In 1903 he had a new home built near Lake Tuusula north of Helsinki, calleed Ainola (after his wife). He gave concerts in and around Finland, spending more and more time away from home, to the chagrin of his wife. After a time he returned home and composed from there. He spent much time wining and dining in Helsinki, and it had a disastrous effect on his wife, who finally entered a sanitorium. He resolved again to give up drinking and concentrate on composing his 3rd symphony. He met Gustav Mahler in Helsinki and they became friends. He performed his 3rd symphony in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1907 he underwent a serious operation for suspected throat cancer, and spent time in the hospital in 1908. His smoking and drinking had now become life-threatening. He cancelled concerts for Rome, Warsaw, and Berlin, but kept one in London. His health deteriorated further, And his brush with death inspired him to compose his 4th symphony. In 1909 his successful throat operation resulted in renewed happiness for him and his wife, Aino. He continued conducting concerts, and met Claude Debussy, who further encouraged his musical efforts. He began working on his 4th symphony in 1910, but had to write other music to compensate for dwindling funds. He finished his 4th symphony in Berlin and conducted concerts in Sweden in 1911. In 1912 he completed short orchestral works. Over the next several years he continued producing a variety of pieces of music, well-received, especially in America. He was given an honorary DM degree from Yale University and also another from the University of Helsinki about the same time. WW1 interrupted his music royalties in 1915, and he was forced to compose smaller works for publication to make ends meet. He completed his 5th symphony at age 50, but he was dissatisfied with it and reworked it three times In 1917 he starting drinking again, triggering arguments with his wife. The Russian Revolution in 1917 caused an improvement in their personal relationship, and he wrote his ‘Jager March’ to celebrate Finnish independence from Russia. The next year the Finnish Civil War began, putting a damper on his march. In 1919, after the war, he completed his 6th symphony. In 1920 George Eastman , of Eastman Kodak, asked him to teach for a year in New York, but he declined. He did enjoy a trip conducting several concerts in England in 1921. He premiered his 6th symphony in 1923. In 1924 he completed his 7th symphony. The next year he composed a number of small pieces. He began drinking again. He did write a few more major works, but for the last thirty years of his life he avoided publicly talking about his music. He tried to write an 8th symphony, but was unsatisfied with it and burned the scores. In fact, he burned a laundry basket full of music he had written, to the chagrin of his wife. But, afterward, he became calmer and gradually had a lighter mood. In 1935 he was awarded the Goethe-Metal, with a certificate signed by Adolf Hitler. A Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939 was repelled, but Finland gave up territory to Russia as a result. In 1941 Sibelius and his wife returned to their Finland home, Ainola, after a long absence. He did not compose much the last few years, and died at Ainola. His wife outlived him by 12 years. John Perry

William Cowper

1731 - 1800 Person Name: William Cowper, 1731-1800 Topics: God Through the Years His Providence Author of "God moves in a mysterious way" in The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper"; b. Berkampstead, Hertfordshire, England, 1731; d. East Dereham, Norfolk, England, 1800) is regarded as one of the best early Romantic poets. To biographers he is also known as "mad Cowper." His literary talents produced some of the finest English hymn texts, but his chronic depression accounts for the somber tone of many of those texts. Educated to become an attorney, Cowper was called to the bar in 1754 but never practiced law. In 1763 he had the opportunity to become a clerk for the House of Lords, but the dread of the required public examination triggered his tendency to depression, and he attempted suicide. His subsequent hospitalization and friendship with Morley and Mary Unwin provided emotional stability, but the periods of severe depression returned. His depression was deepened by a religious bent, which often stressed the wrath of God, and at times Cowper felt that God had predestined him to damnation. For the last two decades of his life Cowper lived in Olney, where John Newton became his pastor. There he assisted Newton in his pastoral duties, and the two collaborated on the important hymn collection Olney Hymns (1779), to which Cowper contributed sixty-eight hymn texts. Bert Polman ============ Cowper, William, the poet. The leading events in the life of Cowper are: born in his father's rectory, Berkhampstead, Nov. 26, 1731; educated at Westminster; called to the Bar, 1754; madness, 1763; residence at Huntingdon, 1765; removal to Olney, 1768; to Weston, 1786; to East Dereham, 1795; death there, April 25, 1800. The simple life of Cowper, marked chiefly by its innocent recreations and tender friendships, was in reality a tragedy. His mother, whom he commemorated in the exquisite "Lines on her picture," a vivid delineation of his childhood, written in his 60th year, died when he was six years old. At his first school he was profoundly wretched, but happier at Westminster; excelling at cricket and football, and numbering Warren Hastings, Colman, and the future model of his versification. Churchill, among his contemporaries or friends. Destined for the Bar, he was articled to a solicitor, along with Thurlow. During this period he fell in love with his cousin, Theodora Cowper, sister to Lady Hesketh, and wrote love poems to her. The marriage was forbidden by her father, but she never forgot him, and in after years secretly aided his necessities. Fits of melancholy, from which he had suffered in school days, began to increase, as he entered on life, much straitened in means after his father's death. But on the whole, it is the playful, humorous side of him that is most prominent in the nine years after his call to the Bar; spent in the society of Colman, Bonnell Thornton, and Lloyd, and in writing satires for The Connoisseur and St. James's Chronicle and halfpenny ballads. Then came the awful calamity, which destroyed all hopes of distinction, and made him a sedentary invalid, dependent on his friends. He had been nominated to the Clerkship of the Journals of the House of Lords, but the dread of appearing before them to show his fitness for the appointment overthrew his reason. He attempted his life with "laudanum, knife and cord,"—-in the third attempt nearly succeeding. The dark delusion of his life now first showed itself—a belief in his reprobation by God. But for the present, under the wise and Christian treatment of Dr. Cotton (q. v.) at St. Albans, it passed away; and the eight years that followed, of which the two first were spent at Huntingdon (where he formed his lifelong friendship with Mrs. Unwin), and the remainder at Olney in active piety among the poor, and enthusiastic devotions under the guidance of John Newton (q. v.), were full of the realisation of God's favour, and the happiest, most lucid period of his life. But the tension of long religious exercises, the nervous excitement of leading at prayer meetings, and the extreme despondence (far more than the Calvinism) of Newton, could scarcely have been a healthy atmosphere for a shy, sensitive spirit, that needed most of all the joyous sunlight of Christianity. A year after his brother's death, madness returned. Under the conviction that it was the command of God, he attempted suicide; and he then settled down into a belief in stark contradiction to his Calvinistic creed, "that the Lord, after having renewed him in holiness, had doomed him to everlasting perdition" (Southey). In its darkest form his affliction lasted sixteen months, during which he chiefly resided in J. Newton's house, patiently tended by him and by his devoted nurse, Mrs. Unwin. Gradually he became interested in carpentering, gardening, glazing, and the tendance of some tame hares and other playmates. At the close of 1780, Mrs. Unwin suggested to him some serious poetical work; and the occupation proved so congenial, that his first volume was published in 1782. To a gay episode in 1783 (his fascination by the wit of Lady Austen) his greatest poem, The Task, and also John Gilpin were owing. His other principal work was his Homer, published in 1791. The dark cloud had greatly lifted from his life when Lady Hesketh's care accomplished his removal to Weston (1786): but the loss of his dear friend William Unwin lowered it again for some months. The five years' illness of Mrs. Unwin, during which his nurse of old became his tenderly-watched patient, deepened the darkness more and more. And her death (1796) brought “fixed despair," of which his last poem, The Castaway, is the terrible memorial. Perhaps no more beautiful sentence has been written of him, than the testimony of one, who saw him after death, that with the "composure and calmness" of the face there “mingled, as it were, a holy surprise." Cowper's poetry marks the dawn of the return from the conventionality of Pope to natural expression, and the study of quiet nature. His ambition was higher than this, to be the Bard of Christianity. His great poems show no trace of his monomania, and are full of healthy piety. His fame as a poet is less than as a letter-writer: the charm of his letters is unsurpassed. Though the most considerable poet, who has written hymns, he has contributed little to the development of their structure, adopting the traditional modes of his time and Newton's severe canons. The spiritual ideas of the hymns are identical with Newton's: their highest note is peace and thankful contemplation, rather than joy: more than half of them are full of trustful or reassuring faith: ten of them are either submissive (44), self-reproachful (17, 42, 43), full of sad yearning (1, 34), questioning (9), or dark spiritual conflict (38-40). The specialty of Cowper's handling is a greater plaintiveness, tenderness, and refinement. A study of these hymns as they stood originally under the classified heads of the Olney Hymns, 1779, which in some cases probably indicate the aim of Cowper as well as the ultimate arrangement of the book by Newton, shows that one or two hymns were more the history of his conversion, than transcripts of present feelings; and the study of Newton's hymns in the same volume, full of heavy indictment against the sins of his own regenerate life, brings out the peculiar danger of his friendship to the poet: it tends also to modify considerably the conclusions of Southey as to the signs of incipient madness in Cowper's maddest hymns. Cowper's best hymns are given in The Book of Praise by Lord Selborne. Two may be selected from them; the exquisitely tender "Hark! my soul, it is the Lord" (q. v.), and "Oh, for a closer walk with God" (q. v.). Anyone who knows Mrs. Browning's noble lines on Cowper's grave will find even a deeper beauty in the latter, which is a purely English hymn of perfect structure and streamlike cadence, by connecting its sadness and its aspiration not only with the “discord on the music" and the "darkness on the glory," but the rapture of his heavenly waking beneath the "pathetic eyes” of Christ. Authorities. Lives, by Hayley; Grimshaw; Southey; Professor Goldwin Smith; Mr. Benham (attached to Globe Edition); Life of Newton, by Rev. Josiah Bull; and the Olney Hymns. The numbers of the hymns quoted refer to the Olney Hymns. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================ Cowper, W. , p. 265, i. Other hymns are:— 1. Holy Lord God, I love Thy truth. Hatred of Sin. 2. I was a grovelling creature once. Hope and Confidence. 3. No strength of nature can suffice. Obedience through love. 4. The Lord receives His highest praise. Faith. 5. The saints should never be dismayed. Providence. All these hymns appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ===================== Cowper, W., p. 265, i. Prof. John E. B. Mayor, of Cambridge, contributed some letters by Cowper, hitherto unpublished, together with notes thereon, to Notes and Queries, July 2 to Sept. 24, 1904. These letters are dated from Huntingdon, where he spent two years after leaving St. Alban's (see p. 265, i.), and Olney. The first is dated "Huntingdon, June 24, 1765," and the last "From Olney, July 14, 1772." They together with extracts from other letters by J. Newton (dated respectively Aug. 8, 1772, Nov. 4, 1772), two quotations without date, followed by the last in the N. & Q. series, Aug. 1773, are of intense interest to all students of Cowper, and especially to those who have given attention to the religious side of the poet's life, with its faint lights and deep and awful shadows. From the hymnological standpoint the additional information which we gather is not important, except concerning the hymns "0 for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," "Tis my happiness below," and "Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken." Concerning the last three, their position in the manuscripts, and the date of the last from J. Newton in the above order, "Aug. 1773," is conclusive proof against the common belief that "God moves in a mysterious way" was written as the outpouring of Cowper's soul in gratitude for the frustration of his attempted suicide in October 1773. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

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