Composer: Henry Thomas Smart
Henry Smart (b. Marylebone, London, England, 1813; d. Hampstead, London, 1879), a capable composer of church music who wrote some very fine hymn tunes (REGENT SQUARE, 354, is the best-known).
Smart gave up a career in the legal profession for one in music. Although largely self taught, he became proficient in organ playing and composition, and he was a music teacher and critic. Organist in a number of London churches, including St. Luke's, Old Street (1844-1864), and St. Pancras (1864-1869), Smart was famous for his extemporizations and for his accompaniment of congregational singing. He became completely blind at the age of fifty-two, but his remarkable memory enabled him to continue playing the organ. Fascinated by organs as a youth…
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I hunger and I thirstO Love That Casts Out FearO love that casts out fear, O love that casts out sin,
O stay no more without but come and dwell within;
True sunlight of the soul, surround us as we go,
So shall our way be safe, our feet no straying know.
[Great love of God, come in, thou spring of everlasting peace,]
[Thou living water, come! Spring up in us and never cease.]
[Love of the living God! of Father, and of Son,]
[Love of the Holy Ghost, make thou our hearts as one.]
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My Spirit Longs for Thee