Hymn Story: Jesus, Lover of My Soul
“Jesus, Lover of My Soul” was written by the prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley. He wrote the hymn within months of his 1738 conversion and titled the piece “In Temptation”. It was first published as…
Hymn Story: Jesus Saves
“Jesus Saves” is often known with its opening line “we have heard the joyful sound”. The hymn was written by Priscilla J. Owens. She was born on July 21, 1829 and lived in Baltimore, where…
Hymn Story: There is a Balm in Gilead
“There Is A Balm in Gilead” is a traditional spiritual. While the date of composition is unknown, the song dates back to at least the 19th Century. A version of the refrain can be found…
Hymn Story: All My Hope On God is Founded
“All My Hope on God is Founded” began as the German hymn. The original words “Meine Hoffnung stehet feste”. Joachim Neander wrote the hymn around 1680. Neander was born in 1650 in Bremen (modern day…
Hymn Story: In Heavenly Love Abiding
“In heavenly love abiding” is based on the fifteenth chapter of John’s gospel. Anna Laetitia Waring wrote the hymn, which explores heavenly love. Anna Waring was born in Wales in 1823, to a Quaker family.…
Hymn Story: Jerusalem
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. In his epic collection Milton: A Poem in Two Books is a poem titled “And did those feet in ancienty time”. Various lines of the poem…
Hymn Story: Who Shall Separate us?
“Who Shall Separate Us?” is an eight-part a cappella choir composition. It was written by James MacMillian and commissioned for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II sometime around 2011-2012 when the song was written.…
Hymn Story: O Taste and See how gracious the Lord is
“O taste and see how gracious is the Lord” was composed for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. Ralph Vaughan Williams married his melody with the scripture found in Psalm 34. The hymn was inspired…
Hymn Story: Blaenwern
Blaenwern is a Welsh hymn. The song was composed by William Penfro Rowlands during the 1904-1905 Welsh revival. Rowlands was born on April 19, 1860. He was a Welsh schoolteacher, composer, and conductor of the Morriston…
Hymn Story: My soul, there is a country
My Soul, There is a Country was written by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. He was the 1st Baronet and an English composer, teacher and historian of music. He was born February 27, 1848. He…
Christmas Song: The Hallelujah Chorus
The Hallelujah Chorus is the most well-known portion of Geroge Frideric Handel’s “Messiah”. Handel used the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter to compose his text. The “Messiah” was first performed in Dublin on…
Christmas Hymn: Sussex Carol
The “Sussex Carol” is a popular Christmas Carol in Britain. Luke Wadding, a 17th Century Irish Bishop, first published the song in 1684. It is unknown whether he wrote the song himself or had recorded…
Christmas Song: The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
I have found two different stories for this hymn. The first states it is believed “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy” was written Jamaican singer-songwriter Oswald Dunbar sometime in the early 1960s. Legend states…
Christmas Hymn Story: In Dulci Jubilo
“In dulci jubilo” means in sweet rejoicing in Latin. The original text is believed to have been written around 1328 by Heinrich Seuse, a German mystic. According to folklore, “Seuse heard angels sing these words…
Christmas Hymn Story: In the Bleak Mid-Winter
English poet Christina Rosetti published a poem under the title “A Christmas Carol” in January 1872 issue of Scribner’s Monthly. Composer Gustav Holst composed a setting to her words in 1906. The new hymn appeared…
Hymn Story: Now We Thank We All Our God
At the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, the walled city of Eilenburg, Saxony struggled with overcrowding, deadly pestilence, and famine. This area is part of Germany today. Lutheran minister Martin Rinkart, and his family,…
Hymn Story: Christ is made the sure foundation
Christ is Made the Sure Foundation was a Latin hymn written sometime in the late 6th or 7th Century under the title Urbs beata Jerusalem. The original hymn was sung as an unaccompanied plainsong melody.…
Hymn Story: God Be With You Till We Meet Again
God Be with You till We meet Again was written by Jeremiah E. Rankin around 1880. It is undated but he gave a copy to Sankey in 1882. Rankin was born on January 2, 1828…
Hymn Story: I Vow to Thee My Country
“I Vow to Thee, My Country” is a British patriotic hymn. Sir Cecil Spring Rice wrote the poem “The City of God” or “The Two Fatherlands” in either 1908 or 1912. The poem described how…
Song Story: Sleep, Dearie, Sleep
Sleep, Dearie, Sleep was played at the end of Queen Elizabeth II funeral at Westminster Abbey. Her bagpiper played this beautiful lament. I’ve been unable to find any additional information about who wrote the song.