Saviour, when in dust to thee

including
By thy birth and early years

with
BENEVENTO
SPANISH HYMN (MADRID)
BLUMENTHAL
MISERERE
HOLLINGSIDE
ABERYSTWYTH

I. Text: Origins

When Robert Grant (1780–1838) wrote this hymn, he was a successful attorney and was a supporter of the East India Company, for which his father had been a long-time employee and executive. Unlike his contemporary Reginald Heber, a devoted servant of the Church of England, Grant wrote hymns as a layman. Both died in India, a little more than a decade apart. Like Heber, some of Grant’s earliest hymns appeared in The Christian Observer, including “Saviour, when in dust to thee,” which appeared in the November 1815 issue (Fig. 1).

This original version was simply titled “Litany” and was given in five stanzas of eight lines. Grant submitted some of his hymns for inclusion in H.V. Elliott’s Psalms and Hymns (1835 | Fig. 2), and the versions there, according to John Julian (1892) were as the author intended. Julian wrote:

In 1835, it was included in Elliott’s Ps. & Hys., No. 105, with a protest in the Preface against its mutilation, as found in some collections then in circulation, and the declaration that the text in that collection was pure. This protest was probably levelled at T. Cotterill, who gave 4 st., very much altered, as “By Thy birth and early years,” in his Sel. in 1819. The only change in Elliott’s Ps. & Hys. from the Christian Observer, 1815, was in st. iii. l. 5, where “anguish’d sigh” was altered to “troubled sigh.”[1]

Curiously, no available copy of Elliott’s hymnal contains a preface. Julian had made a similar claim regarding “O worship the King.” Henry Venn Elliott was the brother of poet Charlotte Elliott.

Fig. 2. Psalms & Hymns (London: Holdsworth & Ball, 1835).

Finally, after Grant’s death, an edition of his hymns was published by his brother Charles, Lord Glenelg, as Sacred Poems (1839). In his preface, Charles claimed to offer “a more correct and authentic version” of the hymns, lamenting the variety of alterations in circulation.

The changes in this posthumous version included “weeping” at 1.4, “mysterious” at 2.5, and “favouring” at 2.7. This is considered the official or authorized edition of the hymn.

II. Text: Development

The most significant alteration of the text was printed in A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Use of St. Paul’s and St. James Churches, Sheffield (Sheffield: J. Montgomery, 1819 | Fig. 4) edited by James Montgomery (and equivalent to Thomas Cotterill’s Selection, 8th ed.). Montgomery also included it in his collection The Christian Psalmist (1825). He eliminated the original first stanza and extensively rewrote the hymn while adroitly keeping the original rhyme scheme, except for two lines in the final stanza.

Fig. 4. A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for the Use of St. Paul’s and St. James Churches, Sheffield (Sheffield: J. Montgomery, 1819).

Grant’s original hymn and Montgomery’s revised version evidently both traveled quickly across the Atlantic, because a conglomerate version appeared in an early Episcopal collection, Church Poetry (Philadelphia: S. Potter & Co., 1823 | Fig. 5). Here, the editor William Augustus Muhlenberg of St. James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, restored Grant’s opening stanza but otherwise used Montgomery’s revisions. This version of the text has been repeated in many other collections, and so has Grant’s original text, and Montgomery’s truncated revision.

Fig. 5. Church Poetry (Philadelphia: S. Potter & Co., 1823).

More recently, an influential revision appeared in the Lutheran Book of Worship (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1978 | Fig. 6), beginning, “Savior, when in dust to you, low we bow in homage due.” The changes mostly reflect updates to archaic pronouns and a shift toward gender-neutral language. Perhaps most significantly, the last phrase of every stanza became “Hear our penitential cry,” which is an improvement in rhyme, but the editors effectively omitted the term “litany” from the hymn. The third stanza was also omitted. This version has been repeated in other collections, especially in Lutheran hymnals.

III. Text: Analysis

The text, as it was originally headed, takes the form of a litany (a liturgical prayer), and this is made clear by its refrain. Its penitential quality makes it appropriate for Lent, and its opening line especially connects it to Ash Wednesday. Through the process of this prayer, the hymn recounts the life of Christ, and does it with a particular focus on his travails on earth.

The opening stanza puts the writer and the worshiper in a position of great humility, alluding perhaps to the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!,’” Lk. 18:13). The second stanza begins with the incarnation, then moves to his fasting in the wilderness and his temptation there (Mt. 4, Mk. 1, Lk. 4). The third stanza reflects on the death of Lazarus (Jn. 11), his weeping over the impending fall of Jerusalem (Lk. 19:41–44), and the declaration of his betrayal by Judas (Mt. 26:20–25, Mk. 14:17–21, Jn. 13:21–30). The fourth stanza tells of his agonized prayer in the garden (Mt. 26:36–46, Mk. 14:32–42, Lk. 22:39–46, Jn. 18:1–11) and his crucifixion (the purple robe is mentioned in Jn. 19:2–5). The final stanza reveals the escape from the tomb, his consequent saving power over death, his ascension, and his placement on the heavenly throne.

As Allen D. Lunneberg described it, “Each stanza is in the form of petitions, as if announced by a deacon.” Lunneberg saw the roots of the hymn in the call to repentance in Ezekiel 18:30–31 and in the humility of Job (“therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes,” 42:6). He summarized the fundamental nature of the hymn in this way:

This hymn demonstrates that a litany form of corporate or responsive prayer is not an attempt to find a “magic formula” of prayer, but is rather a way of praying and meditating with the Gospel—what God has done for us and for our salvation—at the center of attention.[2]

IV. Tunes

1. BENEVENTO

In its earliest years, Grant’s hymn was frequently set to BENEVENTO, a tune by Samuel Webbe (1740–1816) from his setting of “Tibi omnes angeli” in A Collection of Motetts or Antiphons (London: T. Jones, 1792 | Fig. 7). The original score was a motet setting for choir (SSATB) and organ, not intended as a congregational hymn tune.

Fig. 7. A Collection of Motetts or Antiphons (London: T. Jones, 1792).

Webbe’s motet was adapted as a homophonic, hymn-like setting by John Whitaker in The Seraph: A Collection of Sacred Music Suitable to Public or Private Devotion Consisting of the Most Celebrated Psalm and Hymn Tunes, vol. 2 (London: Button, Whitaker & Co., ca. 1819 | Fig. 8). Whitaker credited the music to Webbe and assigned the name BENEVENTO, probably in reference to the Italian city. For his arrangement, he drew from Webbe’s measures 9–12, 17–20, 33–36, 41–44, repeating the final two phrases, resulting in a tune suitable for 7.7.7.7.D. Here it was set to “While with ceaseless course the sun” by John Newton, from Twenty Six Letters on Religious Subjects (1774).

Fig. 8. The Seraph: A Collection of Sacred Music, vol. 2 (London: Button, Whitaker & Co., ca. 1819).

Grant’s text was first paired with Webbe’s tune in the expanded edition of Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (Utica: William Williams, 1833 | Fig. 9), edited by Thomas Hastings and Lowell Mason. In this instance, it was provided as an alternate text for “Sinners, turn, why will ye die?,” a text by Charles Wesley, and the tune was labeled for Wesley’s text. The editors omitted Whitaker’s repeated musical phrases at the end, and they used the combined Grant/Montgomery version of the text. They gave no credit to Whitaker, Webbe, Grant, or Montgomery.

Fig. 9. Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (Utica: William Williams, 1833).

2. SPANISH HYMN (MADRID)

Webbe’s tune was the most common setting for Grant’s text until it started to be paired with SPANISH HYMN. The earliest known appearance of the tune was in a choral arrangement by Benjamin Carr (1768–1831) made for a concert of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia on 29 December 1824. The text of Carr’s piece began “Far, far o’er hill and dell.” The original scores from the concert are held in the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia Collection of Music (Ms. Coll. 217), Kislak Center for Special Collections, University of Pennsylvania. The condensed choral anthem was published later as The Spanish Hymn Arranged and Composed for the Concerts of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: G.E. Blake, 1826 | Fig. 10).

Fig. 10. The Spanish Hymn Arranged and Composed for the Concerts of the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: G.E. Blake, 1826).

In the intervening period between the premiere concert and the publication of the choral score, Carr had also printed the tune as a theme-and-variations piece for piano, number 16 in a series of 36 pieces called Le Clevecin, and also sold in a smaller set, Twelve Airs . . . for the Improvement of Piano Forte Pupils (Philadelphia: B. Carr, 1825 | Fig. 11). The introductory paragraph says the arrangement was registered for copyright on 26 August 1825. The tune is unmistakable in the top line of the piano part through the first 16 bars.

Fig. 11. Twelve Airs . . . for the Improvement of Piano Forte Pupils (Philadelphia: B. Carr, 1825).

Even though it was first printed in the United States, the tune was apparently known on both sides of the Atlantic, because it appeared in A Collection of Metrical Versions by Montagu Burgoyne. The Music Arranged for One, Two, or Three voices by J. Macdonald Harris (London: Cramer & Co., 1827 | Fig. 12, pending). In this collection, it was called “Spanish Chant.”

Benjamin Carr had probably learned the tune from his childhood in Britain. He was born in London, son of a music publisher, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1793. The original source behind the so-called “Spanish Hymn” has never been identified, but R.T. Boehm, writing in 1981 for The Hymn, was able to establish the historicity of the tune in British culture. It had been known among a military regiment known as the 12th Royal Lancers (a.k.a. the 12th Light Dragoons), which was formed in 1715. Boehm reported, via Lieutenant Colonel Rodney Bashford, “For many years, the 12th Royal Lancers kept up a particular custom, playing each night at watch setting, three hymn tunes: The Vesper Hymn, Spanish Chant, and The Russian Hymn.”[3] This tradition traces at least as far back as 1813 in relation to an incident involving the regiment pilfering 104 bottles of wine from a Spanish monastery. Another piece of lore involves the conferral of the tunes to the regiment by Pope Pius VI in 1794 while they were stationed at Civita Vecchia, Italy.

The match between Grant’s text and SPANISH HYMN was apparently first made in the Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1866 | Fig. 13). In this collection, the tune was called MORNING, and the text included James Montgomery’s revisions.

Fig. 13. Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1866).

The pairing of this text and tune is something of an oddity, given the disparity between the penitential quality of the text and the more triumphant quality of the tune, especially when compared to this tune’s other associated text, “Come, children, join to sing,” with its exclamations, “Alleluia! Amen!” Among critics of this pairing was Lutheran writer Elsie Lewars, who believed the tune was “light and unsuitable” for this text.[4]

3. BLUMENTHAL

The next tune to emerge with some lasting influence was BLUMENTHAL. Much like BENEVENTO, this was adapted from a larger work, not originally intended as a hymn tune, and it has a similar character to Webbe’s melody, beginning with four static notes and a descending figure of three notes. This hymn tune is drawn from “Les Deux Anges,” Opus 8 (Fig. 14), a piece for piano by German-born composer Jacques Blumenthal (1829–1908). Some nineteenth-century hymnals date this tune to 1847, when Blumenthal was studying piano with Henri Herz (1806–1888) at the Paris Conservatoire, but the earliest published scores from Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig and Brandus in Paris date to 1849, when Blumenthal was pianist for Queen Victoria in London.

Fig. 14. “Les Deux Anges,” Op. 8 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1849).

The tune was adapted for hymnody by Frederic W. Root (1846–1916), son of hymn composer/compiler George F. Root (1820–1895), in The Linnet (Cincinnati: John Church & Co., 1867), then compiled into Chapel Gems for Sunday Schools, Enlarged Ed. (Chicago: Root & Cady, 1868 | Fig. 15). To build his hymn tune, Root borrowed the first eight bars of the Andante section of “Les Deux Anges,” skipped the next eight bars, then adapted the next four bars marked “tutte le corde.” After these measures, Blumenthal’s piano score never returns to the same harmonic texture, so Root finished the hymn tune by returning to the second phrase, yielding a melodic structure of abcb, although the return of the last phrase was harmonized differently. The text in this example, “When the morn is bright and fair” (“I Will Seek My Father”), is by Sophia T. Griswold (1828–1903).

This tune was paired with Grant’s text in The Presbyterian Hymnal (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1874 | Fig. 16). As opposed to the hymnal published just eight years previously (Fig. 13 above), the editor of this collection, Joseph T. Duryea, restored Grant’s original text rather than perpetuating the alterations by Montgomery. He called Blumenthal’s tune REFUGE (Blumenthal). Duryea must have had access to Blumenthal’s piano music—which was frequently reprinted in the United States—because he made adjustments to Root’s arrangement to make it closer to Blumenthal’s original. On the opposite page, Duryea supplied the tune SPANISH HYMN, except here he called it LITANY.

Fig. 16. The Presbyterian Hymnal (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board, 1874).

4–5. MISERERE & HOLLINGSIDE

The first edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern (1861) included two new tunes, both of which have had some associations with Grant’s text. The tune intended for “Saviour, when in dust to thee” was MISERERE (Fig. 17), newly written by William Henry Monk (1823–1889). Monk’s tune has had limited circulation outside of this series of hymnals. It was dropped after the 1939 edition.

Fig. 17. Hymns Ancient & Modern (London: Novello, 1861).

The other notable tune in the first edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern is HOLLINGSIDE by J.B. Dykes (1823–1876). Dykes made his home at Hollingside Cottage, within walking distance of Durham Cathedral, starting in 1850, and had his first seven children there. This tune is regarded as his earliest surviving hymn tune.[5] His sister Fanny later recalled:

Some scenes during that visit will live forever in my memory. As, for instance, one calm Sunday evening, when I sat in the verandah in the deepening twilight and heard, through the open window, my brother composing and playing over the tune “Hollingside” to the words “Jesus, Lover of my soul.”[6]

As Fanny noted, the tune was originally intended for “Jesu, lover of my soul,” the hymn by Charles Wesley, and it was printed that way in the first edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern (Fig. 18).

Fig. 18. Hymns Ancient & Modern (London: Novello, 1861).

Although HOLLINGSIDE continued to be closely associated with Wesley’s text on both sides of the Atlantic, in the United States it was picked up as a suitable tune for Grant’s text and it was used that way for a few decades. The earliest known example is in Edwin Hatfield’s Church Hymn Book with Tunes (NY: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., 1872 | Fig. 19). Hatfield was Presbyterian.

6. ABERYSTWYTH

In more recent years, the predominant tune associated with Grant’s text has been ABERYSTWYTH, a tune by Welsh composer Joseph Parry (1841–1903). The tune was first published in Ail Lyfr Tonau ac Emynau (Wrexham: Hughes & Son, 1879 | Fig. 20), set to the Welsh text “Beth sydd imi yn y byd.”

The tune name is a place name; at the time, Parry was teaching in the music department of University College at Aberystwyth, Wales. The earliest known association between Parry’s tune and Grant’s text was in The English Hymnal (Oxford: University Press, 1906 | Fig. 21).

Fig. 21. The English Hymnal (Oxford: University Press, 1906).

Montgomery’s version of the text, “By thy birth and early years,” has been associated with the tunes REDHEAD NO. 76 and TOPLADY.

For a modern adaptation of Grant’s hymn, see “Hear Our Prayer (The Litany Song)” by Kevin Twit, recorded on the Indelible Grace album Wake Thy Slumbering Children (2007).

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
10 March 2021

Footnotes:

1. John Julian, “Saviour, when in dust to thee,” A Dictionary of Hymnology (London: J. Murray, 1892), p. 997: Google Books

2. Allen D. Lunneberg, “Savior, when in dust to thee,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 234–235.

3. R.T. Boehm, “SPANISH CHANT,” The Hymn, vol. 32, no. 1 (January 1981), p. 19.

4. Elsie Lewars, “The Common Service Book and Hymnal,” Lutheran Quarterly (Jan. 1918), p. 97: Google Books; see also Winfred Douglas, “Notes on the New Hymnal,” The Living Church (18 Feb. 1922), p. 499, “the tune SPANISH CHANT ill accords with the words; it is an essentially gay tune”: Google Books

5. Graham Cory, The Life, Works, and Enduring Significance of the Rev. John Bacchus Dykes (2016), p. 59.

6. Fanny Dykes, Personal Memories (London: William Andrews, 1896), pp. 84–85, quoted in Graham Cory (2016), p. 222.

Related Resources:

James T. Lightwood, “ABERYSTWYTH,” The Music of the Methodist Hymn Book (London: Epworth, 1935), p. 406.

R.T. Boehm, “SPANISH CHANT: An Intruder’s Adventures into Hymnology,” The Hymn, vol. 32, no. 1 (January 1981), pp. 17–24: HathiTrust

Marilyn Kay Stulken, “Savior, when in dust to you,” Hymnal Companion to the Book of Lutheran Worship (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981), pp. 191–192.

Kenneth Trickett, “SPANISH CHANT,” Companion to Hymns & Psalms (Peterborough: Methodist Publishing, 1988), pp. 283–284.

Fred L. Precht, “Savior, when in dust to you,” Lutheran Worship Hymnal Companion (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992), p. 100.

Carl P. Daw Jr., “MADRID,” Glory to God: A Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016), p. 270.

Graham Cory, “HOLLINGSIDE,” The Life, Works, and Enduring Significance of the Rev. John Bacchus Dykes MA, Mus. Doc.: A Critical Re-appraisal, dissertation (Durham, 2016), pp. 222–223: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11701/

Allen D. Lunneberg & Joe Herl, “Savior, when in dust to thee,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 234–236.

Kevin Twit, “Hear Our Prayer (The Litany Song),” Indelible Grace Hymn Book: http://hymnbook.igracemusic.com/hymns/hear-our-prayer-the-litany-song

“By thy birth and by thy tears,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/by_thy_birth_and_by_thy_tears

“Savior, when in dust to thee,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/savior_when_in_dust_to_thee