Hymn of the Month

HYMN OF THE MONTH FOR NOVEMBER

For All The Saints
The Hymnal 1982 No. 287

The hymn writer, William Walsham How, (1823-1897), was an Oxford educated Solicitor and Anglican priest. He was Suffragan Bishop in East London in 1879, and Bishop of Wakefield in West Yorkshire in 1888. [Remember Yorkshire is the home of Dr. James Herriot, of All Creatures Great and Small. And that brings to mind the hymn, All Thing Bright and Beautiful, H1982 No. 405, which then brings to mind the beautiful needlepoint kneeler cushions in the Chapel!]  Known for his work among the poor in East London, and among the factory workers in West Yorkshire, he was called the “poor man’s Bishop” and the “children’s Bishop.” 

Yes, it has eight stanzas! But when we are talking about the saints, we are indeed surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. So there is a lot to be said and sung. Think of it as an eight-course dinner, a feast! This hymn is such a joy to sing. The tune carries the grand, stirring elegant text along, and at the end of each stanza, we have those wonderful Alleluias! The first one takes us over the top, and the second one follows almost to the top and then gives us a solid landing.

Scripture references abound. Isaiah 35:10 seems to frame the whole hymn:  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Stanza 2 calls to mind Psalm 22:4 (Our forefathers put their trust in you. They trusted in you and were delivered. They cried out and were delivered. They trusted in you and were not put to shame.); and Psalm 18:2 (The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.)

Stanza 3 is particularly rich with scripture references. In Revelation 4:4, we see the twenty-four elders dressed in white and wearing crowns of gold.  Then there are the promises of eternal life to the faithful. Revelation 2:10  (Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.); James 1:12  (Blessed is the man that endured temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him.) 

Stanzas 4 and 5 call us to have courage, drawing on the courage of the saints of old. Paul tells Timothy to join with him in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ (II Timothy 2:3) and to fight the good fight of the faith, and take hold on eternal life. (I Timothy 6:12). We are also reminded of Matthew 13:43 (Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.)

Stanzas 6 and 7 talk of the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21:1-4, where God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.  We are also reminded that the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God. Wisdom of Solomon 3:1

The countless host of stanza 8 singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, ALLELUIA! surely must be talking about the scene described in Revelation 19:1-9:  the roar of the great multitude in heaven shouting Hallelujah!

All these references to saints and their ultimate glory are wonderful, and inspiring, but the real point of this hymn is that we take inspiration from them and do likewise. Paul says to the Hebrews:   Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Hebrews 13:7.  Paul also reminds us that if the saints of old can do it, we can do it. After recounting stories of the martyrs who were tortured and killed, Paul said: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2.

The tune, SINE NOMINE, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is just one of the best tunes ever, and it illuminates this hymn beautifully. The Latin words sine nominee mean “without a name.” This tune name is likely a reference to the many saints whose names are known only to God.

Vaughan Williams was born in the village of Down Ankney, Gloucestershire. There is a hymn tune by Vaughan Williams called Down Ankney, no doubt named after his birthplace. We sing this tune to Come Down, O Love Divine, H1982 No. 516.

Vaughan Williams’ Welsh father, an Anglican priest, died when Ralph was three years old. Ralph’s mother was Margaret Wedgwood (yes, the China Wedgwood family). The ceramics giant, Josiah Wedgwood, was Ralph’s  great-great-grandfather. And that is not all about famous people in his family. Charles Darwin was Ralph’s mother’s uncle.

There is a great story of young Ralph asking his mother about Darwin’s controversial book,  On the Origin of Species, which was published in 1859. His mother assured him it was not a big deal, saying, “The Bible says that God made the world in six days. Uncle Charles just thinks it took him longer. Either way, it is equally wonderful.”

The great English composer Hubert Parry was Vaughan Williams’ first composition teacher at the Royal College of Music. Parry is probably best known as the composer of Jerusalem, the tune to which we sing O Day of Peace That Dimly Shines, H1982 No. 597. That tune figured prominently in the movie Chariots of Fire. Vaughan Williams said that the pupils of Parry, “if we have been wise, inherited from him the great English choral tradition, which Tallis passed on to Byrd, Byrd to Gibbons, Gibbons to Purcell, Purcell to Battis hill and Greene, and they in their turn through the Wesleys, to Parry. He has passed on the torch to us and it is our duty to keep it alight.”  Vaughan Williams also studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford, another giant in the English Cathedral composer tradition, and Gustav Holst was one of his fellow students.

Vaughan Williams had a Doctor of Music degree from Cambridge. He wrote symphonies, chamber music, operas, ballets, choral music, songs, hymn tunes and carols, keyboard music, and film scores. He was also a conductor and music historian. He had a great interest in collecting folk songs and sometimes incorporated folk songs into his own compositions. He was particularly taken with the modal character of the melodies. Several of his hymn tunes are based on folk song melodies.

We owe a great debt to Vaughan Williams. He is one of the giants in the English choral tradition. He wrote a setting of the Old Hundredth Psalm Tune (All people that on earth do dwell), and a setting of O Taste and See (from Psalm 34) for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey in 1953. [Our choir has both in our repertoire, and you hear them from time to time, as they are appropriate to our liturgy.]  You will hear various other Vaughan Williams choral pieces from our choir from time to time, including  O How Amiable Are Thy Dwellings, and The Blessed Son of God.

Vaughan Williams clearly treasured his work with hymns and hymn tunes. We have 33 Vaughan Williams hymn tunes in our Hymnal 1982. He was the music editor of  The English Hymnal (1906), which is part of our own hymn heritage, with many entries in our Hymnal 1982 relying on it. Of his work as editor, he said, “I now know that two years of close association with some of the best (as well as some of the worst) tunes in the world was a better musical education than any amount of sonatas and fugues.”

— Carolyn Parmenter, Music Director