New Song…Old Poem…
I was recently at a memorial service and on the inside of the program was a poem by Sabine Baring-Gould titled, An Evening Hymn. I read it during the service and I was blown away!! The lyric and thought flow was fantastic and the melody immediately popped into my head.
Sabine Baring-Gould is the man (yes that is a dudes name) that wrote “Onward Christian Soldier” and 1,200 other hymns!! This particular poem was written in 1865 and I have yet to find any recordings indicating what it might have sounded like. I dug around a bit more and read, although titled a hymn it might have only been a poem and never been put to music.
I got home from the memorial service and set to working on the melody, chorus and arraignment. It just came together! So here i am sharing it with you all. Please, please, please share your comments and thoughts. I appreciate EVERY SINGLE one!
Caveats: I am not sold on the chorus and there are some pitch issues at the end 
Download Link: Click Here
An Evening Hymn
Verse1
Now the day is over,
Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
Steal across the sky.Verse2
Now the darkness gathers,
Stars begin to peep,
Birds and beasts and flowers
Soon will be asleep.Chorus
Glory to the Father,
Glory to the Son,
And to thee, bless’d Spirit,
Whilst all ages run.Verse3
Through the long night-watches
May thine angels spread
Their white wings above me,
Watching round my bed.Bridge
Jesu, give the weary
Calm and sweet repose;
With thy tenderest blessing
May our eyelids close.Verse4
When the morning wakens,
Then may I arise
Pure and fresh and sinless
In thy holy eyes.Chorus
Glory to the Father,
Glory to the Son,
And to thee, bless’d Spirit,
Whilst all ages run.
15 responses to "New Song…Old Poem…"
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
Brother, don’t ever doubt that God has given you a great musical gift… I pray that you will continue to give that gift back to Him and bless his people.
Such a sweet and simple melody… I’d love to hear a single violin in there to add to the soothing nature of the song… I could just picture that as a closer on a youth retreat, just before bedtime…
Great stuff!
That really was quite beautiful.
Ok, I’m a nobody.
But, it’s my 2 cents.
beautiful.
often when my head hits the pillow i ask God to “rejoice over me with singing,” needing him to quiet my mind, and restlessness, to bless, and give me mercy for the new day.
these lyrics and melody are to me a lullaby.
Great job, very emotional lyrics that can be difficult to put to song was done perfect. Keep up the great work, the gift is one to treasure.
Great job Chad….and here I thought you were mostly a geek, turns out you’re an artist too. Why don’t you have an iphone? Sounds great!
Chad, I LOVE it. And I think the chorus is so sweet and simple and perfect…
Keeper.
For sure.
You write so well… Just wish you wrote more often.
sigh. Makes me wish we sang together when you were here. I’m sure our voices would’ve blended BEAUTIFULLY!!
Steve – Dude you bless me. On and off Twitter. Thank you!
Family Jules – You ARE somebody and I appreciate you lending your ear.
Denise – Your quote just gave me the best imagery and an idea for another song! Thanks!!
John – I am honored God gave me whatever gift I have. He gave it, I didn’t earn it or buy it. So, all Glory goes back to Him! Thanks man
Coz – An iPhone would be awesome and I am green with iPhone envy. In time I will be as cool as you
Mandy – I SOO wanted to sing with you when we were there but I didn’t want to push too hard. I can be a little pushy at times. I think you needed to get to know me and trust this crazy guy from California
Chad:
You were/are right… And that was a tough church week for me (if you don’t remember.) Hindsight is always 20/20 eh??
Chad, this is so beautiful. You’re way too good at this for it to be something that you only do occasionally (as Mandy said)
And yes, it’s going on the iPod again.
Re the end of the chorus…I can see why you may not be happy with it, but I like the way it kind of trails away…just like an evening does.
Another Great One. Thanks for sharing, Bro.
Really really beautiful. Much better than the arrangement I grew up with, although there is a strong, comforting memory there.
If you'd like the one I know, I think I can find it, but I'm so glad you didn't find it until you wrote this…
This is a beautiful arrangement you have done, so modern, yet with the same comfort the original tune offers.
Love this setting, Chad. Great singing and playing, too. I know how tough it is to make a poem sound natural…excellent job!
PS…I was so blessed by your wife's blog this week.
I think I found the original music to the hymn – http://nethymnal.org/htm/n/o/nowtheda.htm
You are very talented…I like hearing the words come to life in a new way.
Hello Chad:
I'm old enough to know that tune from my childhood. I liked it then, and it's still pretty good – what I call a square hymn (structurally). But you have brought new life to it.
There are so many old hymns that are truly inspired, but need a new vehicle to bring them to the 21st century. Thanks for doing a beautiful job on this one.
I have the printed music but I don't know how to attach it here. I can send it if you like – email me at ted@groat.com.
Blessings!
Ted Groat