June 27th, 2021
Christ is made the sure foundation, our processional hymn, is derived from one of the oldest Latin hymn texts. This poem is thought to date to the 6th century and was at that time used for the dedication of churches. The tune Westminster Abbey is derived from music by Henry Purcell and was first matched to this text in 1939. After being sung for the marriage of Princess Margaret of England to Lord Snowden in 1960, this became a popular hymn for wedding processionals.
Today’s sequence hymn is Take my life, and let it be. Written in 1874 by Frances Ridley Havergal, this classic hymn text has been translated into many other languages and is now known throughout the world. Hollingside, the tune to this hymn, was written by John Baccus Dykes in 1860. Originally intended for the Charles Wesley hymn Jesus, lover of my soul, it pairs beautifully with these words.
O Saviour of the World, by John Goss (1800-1880) is our anthem today. Goss was the organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and a prolific composer. He wrote this anthem in 1869, and it shows well his masterful abilities as a composer. Surprisingly simple on the page, the music is harmonically complex and offers plenty of arresting sonorities, each tied to an important word or phrase in this brief text. In this apparent simplicity is great power of expression, mirroring the amazement of those healed in today’s Gospel reading while preparing us for the Eucharist.
The text to O bless the lord my soul, today’s recessional hymn, was written by James Montgomery in 1819. Primarily a paraphrase of Psalm 103, the 4th and 5th stanzas also fit well into the sentiment of today’s Gospel reading. The tune for this hymn was originally written by Aaron Williams for a Charles Wesley text, and was first published in that form in 1763. Not long after, it became clear that the second half of that melody was an excellent hymn tune in and of itself, so it was republished in shortened form (again by Williams) to an Issac Watts text in 1770. This shorter tune was matched with the current text in 1874.
