Two contrasting Hymns (Old and New)

I am not a tremendous fan of the new style hymns and choruses that are flooding into the singing repertoire of our newer and not so new churches. However, as a pianist in a newer church for a while and later as a church organist, choir master and music group leader I have had to lead people in singing music written in both newer and older styles.

In this article I would like to draw attention to two pieces which have had an impact on me, in terms of the words and inevitably the tunes used in conjunction with these words, which in the case of these items are both very well suited.

First, the older hymn, which is 'My song is love unknown', the words to which were written by Samuel Crossman (1624-83) and which is generally sung to the tune called 'Love Unknown' by the English composer John Ireland (1879-1962).

All Saints, Sudbury Pembroke College, Cambridge

Samuel Crossman was an Anglican minister and hymnwriter born at Bradfield Monachorum in Suffolk. He earned a B.D. at Pembroke College, Cambridge and became Prebendary of Bristol. He then ministered to an Anglican congregation at All Saints, Sudbury and to a Puritan congregation at the same time. He had a great affinity with the Puritan cause and in 1661 attended the Savoy Conference, which sought to update the Book of Common Prayer to make it suitable for use by both Anglicans and Puritans. This project was unsuccessful and the ensuing 1662 Act of Uniformity led to Crossman being expelled with some 2,000 other Puritan inclined ministers from the Church of England. Shortly after this he renounced his Puritan affiliations and was ordained in 1665, becoming a Royal chaplain. He took up a post in Bristol in 1667 and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683. After he died on 4th. February, 1683, in Bristol, he was buried in the South aisle of Bristol Cathedral. Crossman's most well known hymns are 'My song is love unknown', 'Jerusalem on High' and 'Sweet Place'.

Crossman Quincentenary plaque Bristol Cathedral

John Ireland

My Song is Love Unknown

My song is love unknown,

My Saviour's love to me:

Love to the loveless shown,

That they might lovely be,

O who am I,

That for my sake

My Lord should take frail flesh, and die?

He came from His blest throne,

Salvation to bestow;

But men made strange, and none

The longed-for Christ would know;

But O my friend,

My friend indeed,

Who at my need

His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,

And His sweet praises sing;

Resounding all the day

Hosannas to their King:

Then "Crucify!"

Is all their breath,

And for His death

They thirst and cry.

They rise and needs will have

My dear Lord made away;

A murderer they save,

The prince of life they slay;

Yet cheerful He

To suffering goes,

That He His foes

From thence might free.

In life, no house, no home

My Lord on earth might have;

In death, no friendly tomb,

But what a stranger gave.

What may I say?

Heaven was His home;

But mine the tomb

Wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,

No story so divine;

Never was love, dear King!

Never was grief like Thine.

This is my friend,

In whose sweet praise

I all my days

Could gladly spend.

The second hymn is a modern one which has spoken to me more profoundly than any other new hymn, it is called 'Above All' and is written and performed by a contemporary worship leader, Lenny Leblanc. The theme of the hymn is similar to the Crossman one, dwelling on the price Jesus paid by dying on the cross to bear away our sin.

Lenny Leblanc Lenny (again)

It is possible to listen to this piece on Last FM at the following link.

http://www.last.fm/music/Lenny%2520Leblanc/Above%2520All?ac=Lenny%20Leblanc

Lenny Leblanc is a successful singer and songwriter who wrote the hit ballad 'Falling' which was popular in the 70's. He was an integral part of the musical epicentre known as Muscle Shoals music. He formed a duo known as LeBlanc and Carr after signing to Atlantic Records and success came quickly with 'Falling' which was named one of Billboard's all time favourite Top 40 hits. Lenny then moved on to a solo career with Capitol Records and soon became disenchanted with the music scene but continued to write songs and came to know God in a personal, life-changing way that altered the course of his career for ever.

Today, Lenny Leblanc's name appears on dozens of popular new church songs, notably 'Above All' and 'There is none like You'. His voice and compositions are featured on many classic worship recordings for Maranatha and Integrity.

Lenny continues to write pop and country songs and he still travels nationally and internationally as a Christian artist and worship leader. His recent release, 'Love Like No Other' includes a newly-recorded version of 'Falling', as well as 9 newly written worship songs. Looking back over his career and personal life, Lenny grins and says, "It's amazing what God has done with a life like mine."

Above All

Above all powers, above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things,
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones,
Above all wonders the world has ever known,
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
There's no way to measure what You're worth.

Crucified, laid behind a stone,
You lived to die, rejected and alone,
Like a rose trampled on the ground,
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all.

© 1999 Hosanna

Quotation

"It's amazing what God has done with a life like mine." ~ Lenny Leblanc