After a nervous breakdown, accomplished blues pianist and jazz band leader, Thomas Andrew Dorsey, turned his talent toward sacred hymns. An audience interested in his songs could only be found once he started selling sheet music from Chicago street corners. Over time, that grew into a publishing company and an appointment as director of the first American gospel choir. All was well for Dorsey until August 1932.
While playing at a music festival in St. Louis, Dorsey was handed a telegram informing him that his wife had died during childbirth. Hoping to see his son, he rushed back to Chicago. He was too late. His newborn son had also died. Dorsey was grief-stricken, yet out of this personal tragedy came the great song that touches all who experience loss—“Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
This tragic origin story is told in Eternal Anthems: The Story Behind Your Favorite Hymns. Various contributors give background on 100 prized hymns in this two-volume set from Concordia Publishing House.
Volume one, the red book, is dominated by historical Lutheran stalwarts such as Martin Luther and Paul Gerhardt and notable recent Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) composers Stephen Starke and Martin Zimmermann. Volume two, the blue book, explores many hymns by composers from Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian traditions.
The hymns birthed in the late 16th and early 17th centuries are often written under intense circumstances such as invasions, famines, riots or plagues. In the hands of German poet and lawyer Johann Franck, a secular love song is transformed into “Jesus, Priceless Treasure.” The lyrics proclaim God’s unfailing love in the face of devastation, namely his beloved hometown, Guben, suffering at the hands of Swedish troops.
Curiously, fantastic legends inform the origins of several hymns—Joseph Scriven’s “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” is a good example. The tale has the Irishman suffering prolonged illness in his youth, a fiancé drowning on their wedding night and falling in love again only to have her fall ill and die. While subdued in comparison, the truth remains an intimate and touching portrait of Scriven.
The modern hymns often emerged from commissions or special occasions, public or private, like Robin Mann’s “Father Welcomes,” a baptism song he wrote for his daughter’s birth.
The journey through the inception of our beloved hymns invites us to appreciate the profound intersection of faith, tragedy, joy and inspiration that music can convey.