Hymn and Commentary English Hymns Their Authors and Hisory by Duffield 1886 THOMAS HASTINGS Hymn GENTLY LORD O GENTLY New York Choralist

The New York Choralist:
A New and Copious Collection
Thomas Hastings, William B. Bradbury
1847

English Hymns: Their Authors and History.
by Samuel Willoughby Duffield
Second Edition, Revised and Corrected.
Funk & Wagnalls. New York, 1886,
pages 163-165

The entry from 1886 posted in this blog article is close to being a first account resource on the life of Thomas Hastings. There is no mention as to whether Mr. Duffield knew Hastings himself, and he references Mr. A. D. F. Randolph's "little memoir" as his source. There is great value in researching source documents, as the authors of these earlier books, periodicals, etc., can be either contemporaries of the research, or give a different slant on history due to the current events and influences of an earlier time.

Thomas Hastings began his music career teaching in one of the singing schools of his time, which were employed toward the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century, initially to improve congregational singing that had fallen into a disastrous state. In early America the custom was for churches to use "lining out" for singing, with no instrumental accompaniment. The song leader would sing a line of a hymn, and the congregation would then repeat the line. It was not uncommon, though, for the song leader not to maintain pitch and in some cases not even the same tune, or begin to high or too low. Congregational responses were often not sung altogether, some beginning sooner or later, and with a multitude of simultaneous tones. To make matters even more un-harmonious, psalters and early hymn books contained no printed music. Rather, the meter was given for the lyrics and then any tune using that meter could be applied.

William Billings is generally named as the father of the singing school movement in America, though there were others teaching its roots are in England.* The schools were not only for singing, as Duffield explains in the following article from his book, but were also a place where young men and women could socialize together.

The hymn for which Mr. Duffield is supposed to be giving information is Gently, Lord, oh, gently lead us, written by Thomas Hastings, though there is no mention of the it in the article. I do have in my possession one of Thomas Hastings' publications, and this hymn is present.

On this blog you will find transcribed from The New York Choralist: A New and Copious Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes Adapted to All the Various Metres in General Use with a Large Variety of Anthems and Set Pieces. by Thomas Hastings and William B. Bradbury, New York, Published by Mark H. Newman & Co., 1847, the Preface and Spirit of Praise.

212 Rosefield. 8's & 7's. Single. (tune) Ferrari

1. Gently, Lord, O gently lead us,
Through this lowly vale of tears;
Through the trials still decreed us,
Till our last great change appears.

2. When temptation's darts assail us,
When in devious paths we stray,
Let thy goodness never fail us,
Lead us in thy perfect way.

The hymn as shown above is without a doubt based upon Psalm 23.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk throught the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

In this 1847 edition from which I quote the stanzas, there are two numbered lines, as shown in this article. Many renderings online of this hymn also have two stanzas, but with 1. and 2. here as the first stanza, followed by another stanza. With the second stanza as shown below, the hymn is often title "In Sorrow." There are also different versions of the first stanza, with the second phrase being "Pilgrims in this vale of tears." http://www.cyberhymnal.org/ gives the composition date as 1831, and thus there is time before or after for Hastings to have edited the lyrics. The possibilites are that (a) one stanza was left out of the New York Choralist, (b)

Hastings added another stanza (c) there is another author for the second stanza.

In the hour of pain and anguish,
In the hour when death draws near,
Suffer not our hearts to languish,
Suffer not our souls to fear;
And, when mortal life is ended,
Bid us in Thine arms to rest,
Till, by angel bands attended,
We awake among the blest.

An interesting tidbit of information brings me to the conclusion that there is still more research that can be done with this hymn, and there is a possibility that the conclusion thus far drawn is incorrect. Several music history books, very likely all drawing from the same source, have referenced the tune used for Gently, Lord, (as shown in the 1847 New York Choralist) to be the same as Batti, Batti, in Mozart's Le Nozze de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), where Zerlina flirtingly makes a plea for peace to Masetto.

The Hastings & Bradbury book shows the tune name to be "Rosefield" by Ferrari. It seems that a contemporary of Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) was composer Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (?1759-1842). Ferrari was noted as a skilled composer who had contact with all of the major composers of his time. There is certainly enough information here to question who actually composed the tune.

That it is very similar to Batti, Batti is true. The opening motive of the aria, however, begins with a descending stepwise motion, where the tune as named "Rosefield" begins with ascending stepwise motion. Thus, the tune may be (a) a variation of Batti, Batti as composed by Mozart, (b) composed by Giacomo Ferrari and similar to Mozart's melody, or (c) composed by Ferrari, used by Mozart in his opera in variation to the original, and then taken for Gently, Lord, O gently lead us. Because it was not uncommon for composers to share each others musical compositions in the 18th century as well as other centuries (J. S. Bach did it.), and it was also common to take popular and folk song tunes and use them for Christian hymns, all of the choices are very possible.

Who the composer of the tune was for the New York Choralist, is in our time an interesting documentation of the past, and demonstrates how hymns evolve over time. As I have stated elsewhere, time is an excellent editor of all forms of composition, both musical and literary. Today the tune "Rosefield" is entirely different and actually wedded quite well to another text. (G. G.) Ferrari has become an obscure composer of the 18th century, but the Thomas Hastings text is still alive and well. There may still be a better melody for the inspirational words of this hymn. It may have already be composed and waiting to be "married" to the text, or it may be still a thought of God's waiting to be instilled into the right mind.

English Hymns: Their Authors and History.
by Samuel Willoughby Duffield
Second Edition, Revised and Corrected.
Funk & Wagnalls. New York, 1886, pages 163-165

Dr. Thomas Hastings was born in Washington, Litchfield County, Conn., October 15th 1784. His parents removed, in 1796, to Clinton, N.Y., making their way through what was then an unbroken wilderness, in sleighs and ox sleds. The lad was thus inured to the hardships of a pioneer life, and his early youth was spent in the routine duties of the farm. But with the winter months came the eager desire for knowledge, to gratify which he counted it no hardship to go six miles daily, on foot, to the school. He had already begun the study of music from a six-penny primer of four small pages. Next he became fifth chorister in the village choir, and his musical career was commenced in earnest. Deriving from a treatise on music many valuable ideas, he puzzled out its difficult places, and finally mastered its contents. Then he turned to what was to be his profession, and endeavored to secure a situation in some school to teach music. At first this was a failure; but finally, in 1806-7, he was intivited to Bridgewater, Oneida County, and Brookfield, Herkimer County.

It must not be forgotten that the singing-schools of that time and region were by no means places of hard work. Those who went were mainly young people, bent on fun and flirtation. Hence a conscientious instructor had no sinecure. But Mr. Hastings was inflexible in his purpose, and he not only enforced his rules, but managed to obtain very apparent good results by the end of the third season. In 1816, after a period of five years spent in business and on the farm, Mr. Hastings returned to music, and compiled, with Professor Norton, the famous Musica Sacra. In 1818 he was invited to Troy, and at this date he appears to have given his first distinctive attention to religious music.

The year 1822 witnessed the outcome of those thoughts, in a work On Musical Taste. In this he took the ground that"religion has the same claim substantially in song as in speech." And it was under this banner that he fought all the rest of his life.

In his management of the singing at Dr. Chester's church in Albany, he carried these views into immediate practice, and with the best results. He had arranged his singers so that the congregation was really led by several trained voices, though it seemed as if he stood forward alone as precentor. The church became celebrated for its congregational singing, and Mr. Hastings wrote articles upon this new departure for the Utica papers. As one thing usually leads to another, this led to his being invited to the editorial chair of a religious newspaper, called The Recorder. His salary was fixed at six hundred dollars per annum, half the amount being conditioned on the support which the paper received.

He accepted these meagre terms, and in 1823 he removed to Utica. The Recorder was first issued as a fortnightly publication in January, 1824. It was an era of revivals, followed by equally great dissensions--facts which have indelibly stamped their record on the population of Oneida County. The editor continued his relations with the paper until its ninth volume had appeared. He never lost sight of the interests of sacred music in these years, and hence he came to be known, more and more widely, as the advocate of many reforms. In 1832, New York City sought his aid; twelve churches combining to secure him for the metropolis. While the matter was tentative, a meeting was held in the old Broome Street (Presbyterian) church. At this Mr. Hastings spoke, and with such power and persuasiveness that the case was decided at one, for it was felt that he must be obtained.

From 1832 to 1872, Dr. Hastings (as we must now style him) was a resident of New York City, devoting himself to its psalmody, and affecting the entire country from this commanding situations. To him church music had become a sacred duty, "an holy calling," and he gave himself up to it in all its aspects. This, of course, included the hymns themselves; and, in point of fact, he composed no less than six hundred original pieces. He also corrected many of the older hymns, according to a more elevated standard of taste. To do this without detracting from their piety was, of itself, no slight achievement. Dr. Hastings, however, was a man eminent in his knowledge of the Scriptures, and of a truly devout spirit. He Church Psalmist, published in 1836, was therefore a marked example of his methods. It was severely criticised, but gained a wide circulation, as Spiritual Songs, 1833, had done before it.

The educational influence of all these various publications was becoming more and more apparent. In 1844 his connection with William B. Bradbury added great strength to the cause. It would be tedious and unneccessary to enumerate the different works which these friends produced, alone, or in partnership. Of them all, Dr. Hastings felt that Selah, 1856, was his best. The Church Melodies, 1858, was the pioneer of modern works of the combined hymn-book and tune-book class. Like the Plymouth Collection, 1855, it aimed to secure congregational singing in public worship.

It should be added that this was by no means an easy task to which Dr. Hastings so devotedly consecrated his powers of mind and will. The oppositions and discouragements of it are known to those who have trodden the same path. Its success is seen in the present opinions which prevail in the deep heart of the Church, undisturbed by the ambitious designs of less religious professional musicians.

On the 15th of May, 1872, he went to join the choir of the saints about the throne. It is simply marvellous (as Mr. A. D. F. Randolph has remarked, in the little memoir which furnishes our facts) that Dr. Hastings should have accomplished so much. He was hampered by the perpetual drawback of imperfect eyesight, and yet, in spite of this and other hindrances, he carried out a life-work which is its own best memorial. Whenever "Ortonville" or "Rock of Ages" is sung, there is still the presence of the singer whose priase is in all the churches.

This article, original thoughts and transcription, was written and typed by Mary Katherine May, owner of www.QualityMusicandBooks.com. You are invited to check out our website ... our retail store is in the process of being moved to a new location. ... Thanks!

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