Hymntunes (Annotated)

Frances Ridley Havergal’s most widely known work is the poem called the Consecration Hymn, “Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” A few of her other hymns (that is, the words) are still known and sung fairly widely. She also composed many hymntunes, and this book presents all of them extant today. Even “Hermas,” the best known of them, is seldom sung now; nonetheless, they are beautiful scores. She was exceptionally gifted and experienced to write both words and music for hymns. She was a rarely fine poet, and a similarly fine musician (pianist, singer, composer). She played organ and piano in church for much of her life, and for a while she was the music leader of St. Paul’s Church, Leamington Spa. Frances also labored for years with Charles Busbridge Snepp to complete and publish Songs of Grace and Glory, a large, immensely valuable hymnbook; this hymnbook had more than 1,100 scores, most composed by her father William Henry Havergal, with several composed by F.R.H. and by others. She edited and prepared very nearly all of them for publication (only a handful left unfinished when she died).