- |
User Links
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files| Text: | Blest Be the Tie That Binds |
| Author: | John Fawcett |
| Tune: | DENNIS |
| Composer (attr.): | Johann G. Nägeli |
| Media: | MIDI file |
315. Blest Be the Tie That Binds
You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range?
Try transposing this FlexScore.
1 Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.
2 Before our Father's throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.
3 We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.
4 When we are called to part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.
5 This glorious hope revives
our courage by the way;
while each in expectation lives
and waits to see the day.
6 From sorrow, toil, and pain,
and sin, we shall be free;
and perfect love and friendship reign
through all eternity.
| Text Information | |
|---|---|
| First Line: | Blest be the tie that binds |
| Title: | Blest Be the Tie That Binds |
| Author: | John Fawcett (1782) |
| Meter: | SM |
| Language: | English |
| Publication Date: | 1987 |
| Scripture: | ; ; ; |
| Topic: | Close of Worship; Hope |
| Tune Information | |
|---|---|
| Name: | DENNIS |
| Composer (attr.): | Johann G. Nägeli (1828) |
| Meter: | SM |
| Key: | F Major |
Text Information:
Scripture References:
st. 1-3 = Gal. 3:28
st. 3 = Gal. 6:2
An orphan at the age of twelve, John Fawcett (b. Lidget Green, Yorkshire, England, 1740; d. Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, 1817) became apprenticed to a tailor and was largely self-educated. He was converted by the preaching of George Whitefield at the age of sixteen and began preaching soon thereafter. In 1765 Fawcett was called to a small, poor, Baptist country church in Wainsgate, Yorkshire. Seven years later he received a call from the large and influential Carter's Lane Church in London, England. Fawcett accepted the call and preached his farewell sermon. The day of departure came, and his family's belongings were loaded on carts, but the distraught congregation begged him to stay. In Singers and Songs of the Church (1869), Josiah Miller tells the story associated with this text:
This favorite hymn is said to have been written in 1772, to commemorate the determination of its author to remain with his attached people at Wainsgate. The farewell sermon was preached, the wagons were loaded, when love and tears prevailed, and Dr. Fawcett sacrificed the attraction of a London pulpit to the affection of his poor but devoted flock.
Fawcett continued to serve in Wainsgate and in the nearby village of Hebden Bridge for the remainder of his active ministry.
Fawcett titled this hymn "Brotherly Love." It is essentially about the communion of saints, bound together in love (st. 1), united in worship (st. 2), sharing each other's burdens (st. 3), and encouraging each other with the hope of eternal life in glory, where will be reunited with departed friends and freed "from sorrow, toil, and pain and sin (st. 4-6).
He wrote most of his hymns to be sung by his congregation at the conclusion of the sermon. They were published in Hymns adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion (1782). In the preface to his collection Fawcett apologized to "persons of an elevated genius" for his "plain verses" but expressed the hope that they would edify "humble Christians."
Liturgical Use:
Worship services that stress unity or the communion of saints; occasions of departure; encouragement for mutual prayer, fellowship, and burden bearing; close of the worship service or other church meetings; funerals.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
Tune Information:
Lowell Mason (PHH 96) arranged DENNIS and first published it in The Psaltery (1845), a hymnal he compiled with George. Webb (PHH 559). Mason attributed the tune to Johann G. Nageli (b. Wetzikon, near Zurich, Switzerland, 1773; d. Wetzikon, 1836) but included no source reference. Nageli presumably published the original melody as the setting for "0 selig, selig, wervor dir" in his Christliches Gesangbuch (1828). Nageli was an influential music educator who lectured throughout Germany and France. Influenced by Johann Pestalozzi, he published his theories of music education in Gangbildungslehre (1810), a book that made a strong impact on Lowell Mason. Nageli composed mainly" choral works, including settings of Goethe's poetry. He received his early instruction from his father, then in Zurich, where he concentrated on the music of]. S. Bach. In Zurich, he also established a lending library and a publishing house, which published first editions of Beethoven s piano sonatas and music by Bach, Handel, and Frescobaldi.
The tune name DENNIS is thought to refer to a town in Massachusetts. It is a simple tune, initially built with several sequences. Sing stanzas 1 and 6 in unison and the others in parts, perhaps using no accompaniment on stanza 4 for occasions of sorrowful, parting. Two groups can also sing the entire hymn antiphonally, by half-stanzas, especially if one group is parting from the other. Sing the tune in two long lines, with, one pulse per measure.
--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
| Media | |
|---|---|
| Audio recording: |  Piano Harmony (auto-generated) |
| MIDI file: |  MIDI |
| MIDI file: | MIDI Preview (Faith Alive Christian Resources) |
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
