For the Beauty of the Earth

DESCRIPTION: "For the beauty of the earth ...of each hour ... the joy of ear and eye ... of human love ... thy church ... thy self ... Lord of all to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise"
AUTHOR: Words: Folliott S. Pierpont (1835-1917), Music: Conrad Kocher, "abridged" by William Henry Monk (source: McKim; it has also been sung to a Bach chorale)
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Orby Shipley, _Lyra Eucharistica_, second edition, according to McKim)
KEYWORDS: nonballad religious beauty
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (7 citations):
GarrityBlake-FishFactory, p. 68, ("For the joy of ear and eye") (1 text)
Averill-CampSongsFolkSongs, p. 331, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (notes only)
Tobitt-TheDittyBag, pp. 150-151, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Tobitt-YoursForASong, pp. 41-42, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsNThings, p. 105, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (1 text, 1 tune)
Zander/Klusmann-CampSongsPopularEdition, p. 55, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (1 text)
National-4HClubSongBook, p. 50, "For the Beauty of the Earth" (1 text, 1 tune)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "God Who Touches Earth with Beauty" (theme)
NOTES [150 words]: GarrityBlake-FishFactory, p. 68: "hymn sung at Reedville's 'Blessing of the [menhaden] Fleet'". - BS
According to McKim, Folliott S. Pierpont was born at Bath, England and earned a degree from Queen's College, Cambridge. He taught for a few years, then inherited enough money to travel and write. This is his best-known piece, written as a communion hymn. When it was published in 1864, it was called "The Sacrifice of Praise," which was the text used in the final line: "Christ, our God, to thee we raise This our sacrifice of praise." Pierpont wrote it to enliven otherwise joyless worship services.
Rudin, p. 58, says t was written for "Flower Services" as well as communion.
Rudin, p. 59, says the common tune for this, "Dix," predates the text; it gained its name because it was used for William Dix's "As With Gladness Men of Old," but had been written in 1838 by Conrad Kocher (1786-1872) - RBW
Bibliography

McKim: LindaJo H. McKim, Presbyterian Hymnal Companion, Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993
Rudin: Cecilia Margaret Rudin, Stories of Hymns We Love, John Rudin & Company, 1934 (I use the fourteenth printing of 1951)

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File: GaBl068

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