And Are We Yet Alive

And are we yet alive? C. Wesley. [Meeting of Friends.] From his Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1749, vol. ii., No. 236, in 4 stanzas of 8 lines, and entitled, "At Meeting of Friends." The 3rd stanza is usually omitted, as in the 1780 edition of the Wesleyan Hymn Book, and the revised edition, 1875. It is commonly used as the opening hymn of the Wesleyan Conference. In all English-speaking countries it is a favourite hymn with the Methodist bodies, and in America especially it is included in the collections of various denominations. Original text, Poetical Works, 1868-72, vol. v. p 466.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Notes

Tune

DENNIS (Nägeli)

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 pu…

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ST. THOMAS (Williams)

ST. THOMAS is actually lines 5 through 8 of the sixteen-line tune HOLBORN, composed by Aaron Williams (b. London, England, 1731; d. London, 1776) and published in his Collection (1763, 1765) as a setting for Charles Wesley's text "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" (570). The harmonization is by Lowell Maso…

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SILVER STREET

Although this tune is widely attributed to Isaac Smith and was published in Smiths Collection of Psalm Tunes, London, ca. 1780, Smith does not claim to be the composer. The tune also appeared in other books of similar or earlier date. Southern Harmony, 1835 attributes the tune to J. Street. - From T…

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