Softly and Tenderly
Softly and Tenderly Author: Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909 Composer: Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909 Will L. Thompson was born at East Liverpool, Ohio, on November 7, 1847. His father, Josiah Thompson, was a member of the Ohio State Legislature for two terms. Young Thompson attended the Boston Music School from 1870-73. Later he did additional musical study in Germany. His chief ambition always was to write music for the people; in this he became eminent. After a very successful career of writing secular music, Thompson turned his talents to writing...
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Silent Night Author: Joseph Mohr, 1792-1848 Composer: Franz Gruber, 1787-1863 Joseph Mohr was born in the lovely city of Salzburg, Austria, in 1792. As a boy he was an active chorister in the Cathedral of Salzburg. In 1815 Mohr was ordained to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. Following his ordination, he served various parishes in the Salzburg area. It was while serving as an assistant priest in 1818, at the newly erected Church of St. Nicholas in Obernorf in the region of Tyrol, high in the beautiful Alps, that Mohr wrote the text...
read moreJesus Loves Me
Jesus Loves Me Author: Anna B. Warner, 1820-1915 Composer: William B. Bradbury, 1816-1868 Without doubt the hymn that has influenced children for Christ more than any other is this simply stated one, written in 1860 by Anna Bartlett Warner. Miss Warner wrote this text in collaboration with her sister Susan as a part of one of the best-selling novels of that day, a novel written by Susan entitled Say and Seal. Today few remember the plot of that novel, which stirred the hearts of many readers. But the simple poem spoken by one of the...
read moreI Will Sing the Wondrous Story
I Will Sing the Wondrous Story Author: Francis H. Rowley, 1854-1952 Composer: Peter P. Bilhorn, 1865-1936 Francis H. Rowley was born in Hilton, New York, on July 25, 1854. Later he became a Baptist minister and served churches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Illinois. He has given the following account for the writing of this hymn: I was minister of the First Baptist Church of North Adams, Massachusetts in 1886. The church and community were experiencing a period of unusual interest in religious matters, and I was assisted by a...
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Holy, Holy, Holy Author: Reginald Heber, 1783-1826 Composer: John B. Dykes, 1823-1876 Reginald Heber was born in the area of Cheshire, England, on April 21, 1783, of scholarly and well-to-do parents. At the age of seventeen he entered Oxford University, where his scholarship and literary abilities received much attention. Following his ordination to the ministry of the Anglican Church, he served for the next sixteen years at an obscure parish church in the little village of Hodnet in western England. Throughout his ministry he was known...
read moreHold the Fort
Hold the Fort Author: Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876 Composer: Philip P. Bliss, 1838-1876 As was true of so many of P. P. Bliss’s gospel songs, this stirring hymn was inspired by an illustration used by Major Whittle, an officer in the American Civil War, while addressing a YMCA meeting on the text from Revelation 2:25. Major Whittle’s illustration was about a small Northern force of soldiers in charge of guarding a great quantity of supplies. They were being hard pressed by greatly superior Confederate forces. Finally, the Confederate...
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