I Need Thee Every Hour

Letra: Annie Sherwood Hawks; Música: Robert Lowry

 

Annie Sherwood Hawks (1836-1918), poeta y autora de himnos religiosos, compuso muchos de estos junto con el pastor evangélico Robert Lowry (1826-1899), a quien conoció en la Hanson Place Baptist Church de Brooklyn. Contribuyó significativamente en el himnario de la Escuela Dominical protestante, y escribió las letras de un buen número de conocidos himnos, como "Thine, Most Gracious Lord"; "Why Weepest Thou? Who Seekest Thou?"; "Full and Free Salvation", "My Soul Is Anchored", si bien el más recordado de ellos es “I Need Thee Every Hour” ("Te necesito cada hora"), escrito en 1872, donde expresa su profunda relación e intimidad con el Señor.

La canción fue utilizada por Ira Sankey en la National Baptist Sunday School Association Convention de 1872, y posteriormente se incluyó en la colección "Royal Diadem" (1873), editada por Lowry y William Doane para la Escuela Dominical. 

Letra:

I need Thee every hour

Most gracious Lord

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford

I need Thee, O I need Thee

Every hour I need Thee

O bless me now, my Savior

I come to Thee.

I need Thee, O I need Thee

Every hour I need Thee

O bless me now, my Savior

I come to Thee.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Columbia 380. U.S. Marine Band (1896-97)

👉🏽 Columbia 443. S.C. Porter (1901-02)

👉🏽 Columbia 32496. Henry Burr (1904) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 1780. Henry Burr (1904)

👉🏽 Columbia 914. Archibal Brothers´ Quartette (1910)

👉🏽 Columbia 1961. Columbia Stellar Quartette (1916)

👉🏽 Berliner 0357. Haydn Quartet (1899)

👉🏽 Victor 702. Christopher H.H. Booth (1901)

👉🏽 Victor 2469. Walter B. Rogers (1903)

👉🏽 Victor 4433. Harry Macdonough & John Bieling (1905)

👉🏽 Victor 87203. Alma Gluck & Louise Homer (1914)

👉🏽 Victor 16255. Albert Campbell & Harry McClaskey (1918)

👉🏽 Busy-Bee 703. Henry Burr (c.1904)

👉🏽 Leeds 4162. Henry Burr (c.1904)

👉🏽 Edison 9040. Harry Macdonough & John Bieling (1905)

The Star of Bethlehem

Letra: F.E. Weatherly; Música: Stephen Adams

Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848-1929), abogado y autor británico, escribió la letra de al menos 3.000 canciones populares, entre las más conocidas se encuentran la balada sentimental "Danny Boy" (que se canta con la melodía "Londonderry Air"), el tema religioso "The Holy City" y la bélica "Roses of Picardy".

Letra:

It was the eve of Christmas, 

The snow lay deep and white,

I sat beside my window, 

and look´d into the night,

I heard the church bells ringing,

I saw the bright stars shine,

And childhood came again to me,

With all its dreams divine.

Then, as I list´ned to the bells,

And watch´d the skies afar,

Out of the East majestical 

There rose one radiant star,

And ev´ry other star grew pale

Before that heav´nly glow,

It seem´d to bid me follow,

And I could not choose but go.

It seem´d to bid me follow,

And I could not choose but go.

From street to street it led me, 

by many a mansion fair,

It shone thro´dingy casement on

many a garret bare;

From highway on to highway,

thro´ alleys dark and cold, 

And where it shone the darkness 

was flooded all with gold.

Sad hearts forgot their sorrow,

Rough hearts grew soft and mild,

And weary little children turn´d 

in their sleep and smil´d;

While many a homeless wanderer 

uplifted patient eyes

Seeming to see a home at last 

beyond those starry skies.

Seeming to see a home at last 

beyond those starry skies.

And then methought earth faded,

I rose as borne on wings,

Beyond the waste of ruined lives,

the press of human things;

Above the toil and shadow,

Above the want and woe,

My old self and its darkness

seem´d left on earth below,

And onward upward shone the star,

until it seem´d to me,

It flash´d upon the golden gate,

And o´er the crystal sea;

And then the gates roll´d backward,

I stood where Angels trod;

It was the star, the star of Bethlehem

had led me up to God, 

The star, the star,

had led me up to God.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Columbia 32448. Henry Burr (1904) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 237. Henry Burr (1904)

👉🏽 Columbia 5888. Reed Miller (1916)

👉🏽 Columbia 2373. Henry Burr (1917)

👉🏽 Victor 31573. Harry Macdonough (1906)

👉🏽 Imperial 45336. Frank C. Stanley (1906)

👉🏽 Imperial 45414. Tom Child (1906-07)

👉🏽 Indestructible 3010. Henry Burr (1910)

👉🏽 Edison 23145. Hardy Williamson (1914)

👉🏽 Edison 80360. Vernon Dalhart (1917)

Abide With Me

Himno cristiano del compositor escocés Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847). Una oración para rogar a Dios que permanezca a nuestro lado durante toda la vida, y no nos abandone en la hora de nuestra muerte. Escrita por Lyte en 1847, cuando se estaba muriendo de tuberculosis, la mayoría de las veces se canta con la melodía "Eventide" del organista inglés William Henry Monk (1823-1889).

El primer verso alude a un pasaje de Lucas (24:29), "Quédate con nosotros, porque es tarde y el día está avanzado", y el penúltimo versículo se basa en el texto de 1 Corintios (15:55), "Oh muerte, ¿dónde está tu aguijón? Oh sepulcro, ¿dónde está tu victoria?".

Letra:

Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee,

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;

Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;

Change and decay in all around I see;

O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word,

But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord,

Familiar, condescending, patient, free.

Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.

Come not in terror, as the King of kings,

But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings;

Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea.

Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide with me.

Thou on my head in early youth didst smile,

And though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,

Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee.

On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.

What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?

Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?

Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;

Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.

Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?

I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.

Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Victor 16506. Elizabeth Wheeler [#6, 10.1910]

👉🏽 Victor 87132. Alma Gluck & Louise Homer [#10, 06.1913]

Otras versiones:

👉🏽 Berliner 1759. Steve Porter (1897)

👉🏽 Berliner 4274. Haydn Quartet (1897)

👉🏽 Berliner 01031. J.J. Fisher (1900)

👉🏽 Columbia 31360. Steve Porter (1901)

👉🏽 Columbia 1603. Henry Burr (1903)

👉🏽 Columbia 32317. Henry Burr (1904) 🔊

👉🏽 Columbia 3516. George Alexander (1906)

👉🏽 Columbia 2589. Henry Burr (1917)

👉🏽 Edison 5019. Frank C. Stanley (1902)

👉🏽 Edison 10180. Albert Benzler (1909)

👉🏽 Edison 1545. Frank Croxton Quartet (1912)

👉🏽 Edison 28178. Christine Miller (1913)

👉🏽 Edison 80177. Christine Miller (1913)

👉🏽 Edison  80276. Elizabeth Wheeler & Thomas Chalmers (1915)

👉🏽 Edison 2798. Elizabeth Wheeler & Thomas Chalmers (1916)

👉🏽 Edison 80623. Marjorie Harcum (1920)

👉🏽 Edison 80827. Frederick Kinsley (1925)

👉🏽 Victor 2633. Richard Jose (1904)

👉🏽 Victor 87076. Geraldine Farrar (1911)

👉🏽 Victor 17782. Elsie Baker & Olive Kline (1914)

👉🏽 Zonophone 9258. Haydn Quartet (1900)

👉🏽 Zonophone 9558. J.J. Fisher (1901)

👉🏽 Zonophone 5990. Criterion Quartet (1904)

👉🏽 Zonophone 4020. Edward T. King (1909)

👉🏽 Columbia (UK) 6025. Margaret Lewys (1908)

👉🏽 Columbia (UK) 301. Carrie Herwin (1911)

👉🏽 Columbia (UK) 7101. Clara Butt (1915)

👉🏽 Everlasting 233. Frank C. Stanley (1908)

👉🏽 Indestructible 1085. Henry Burr (1909)

👉🏽 Gramophone 4-2091. Evan Williams (1910)

👉🏽 Gramophone (UK) 03179. Clara Butt (1910)

The Rosary

Letra: Robert Cameron Rogers; Música: Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin

(The Boston Music Co., Boston, 1900)

Letra:

The hours I spent with thee, dear heart,

Are as a string of pearls to me;

I count them over ev´ry one apart,

My rosary, my rosary!

Each hour a pearl, each pearl a prayer

To still a heart in absence wrung,

I tell each bead unto the end,

And there a Cross is hung.

O, memories that bless and burn!

O, barren gain and bitter loss!

I kiss each bead, and strive at last to learn

To kiss the Cross, sweetheart! to kiss the Cross

Versiones destacadas:

👉🏽 Victor 2332. William H. Thompson [#2, 09.1903]

👉🏽 Columbia 1354. Henry Burr [#3, 06.1903] 🔊

👉🏽 Victor 4676. Alan Turner [#8, 07.1906]

👉🏽 Victor 88108. Ernestine Schumann-Heink [#8, 05.1908]

👉🏽 Victor 64257. John McCormack [#4, 10.1912]

👉🏽 Columbia 1815. Taylor Trio [#8, 01.1916]