For the Beauty of the Earth
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010) |
"For the Beauty of the Earth" is a Christian hymn by Folliott S. Pierpoint (1835-1917).
Pierpoint was 29 at the time he wrote this hymn; he was mesmerised by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded him. It first appeared in 1864 in a book of poems entitled "The Sacrifice of Praise."
The tune most widely used for this hymn is called Dix, composed by Conrad Kocher in 1838.
Hymn text
- For the beauty of the earth
- For the glory of the skies,
- For the love which from our birth
- Over and around us lies:
-
Refrain:
- 'Lord of all, to Thee we raise
- this our joyful hymn of praise.
-
Alternative refrain:
- Christ, our God, to Thee we raise
- This, our sacrifice of praise.
- For the beauty of each hour
- Of the day and of the night,
- Hill and vale and tree and flow'r
- Sun and Moon and stars of light
- Refrain
- For the joy of human love,
- Brother, sister, parent, child.
- Friends on earth and friends above
- For all gentle thoughts and mild.
- Refrain
- For each perfect gift of Thine
- To our race so freely given.
- Graces human and divine
- Flow'rs of earth and buds of heav'n.
- Refrain
- Alternative last verse:
- For thy church that evermore
- Lifteth holy hands above,
- Offering up on every shore
- Her pure sacrifice of love.
- Refrain
Settings
English composer John Rutter's composition for SATB, SA, or TTBB choir with piano/organ or orchestra accompaniment is a widely performed choral setting of this text. Another setting is by Geoffrey Shaw.[1]
Along with such hymns as "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come", "We Gather Together" and "Faith of Our Fathers", this is a hymn that is often sung during the Thanksgiving holiday period in many churches in America.
This hymn was sung in the 1994 Columbia Pictures version of Little Women.
It is performed on the Thomas Kinkade 2000 album Music of Light.
References
- ^ For the beauty of the earth at hymnswithoutwords.com, accessed 10 July 2009
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
