All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine

with
SINE NOMINE
ENGELBERG

I. Text: Origins

This hymn of praise by Francis Bland Tucker (1895–1984) was first published in The Hymnal 1940 (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1943 | Fig. 1). At the time, Tucker was rector of St. John’s Church, Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The companion to that hymnal offered this simple explanation:

This new hymn by F. Bland Tucker was written in 1938 with the tune SINE NOMINE, no. 126, in mind, having the same metre and style although more meditative than “For all the saints.” It is based on Philippians 2:5–11.[1]

Many years later, Tucker himself offered some insight into how this hymn came to be written:

I never thought of writing a hymn until in 1937 I was put on the Commission to propose a new hymnal at the next meeting of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. This Commission produced The Hymnal 1940. Each of us assigned a different hymnal to study, and to present hymn from it to be considered, and each was asked to look for possible material from other literature.

In C.S. Phillips’s book Hymnody Past and Present I found passages quoted from early Christian writings that he said had hymnic qualities, though written in prose. Among these were the Eucharistic prayers in the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, probably written c. 110), chapters 9 and 10; and the Epistle to Diognetus, chapter 7 (c. 190). I paraphrased these in hymns 195 and 298. . . .

There are other approaches to writing a hymn. . . . Another beginning is to start with a SINE NOMINE tune and write new words for it. Vaughan Williams’ great tune SINE NOMINE was written for the great words of “For all the saints,” but since in the Episcopal Church those words are apt to be sung only around All Saints Day, I ventured to write optional words for general use. The magnificent passage in Philippians 2:5–12 provided the basis for this hymn.[2]

In spite of his intended desire to have his text fit the tune SINE NOMINE by Ralph Vaughan Williams, it was paired with ENGELBERG by Charles Villiers Stanford. Both of those tunes had been written for the hymn “For all the saints, who from their labours rest” and can be seen in their original form in that article. By some accounts, the reason Tucker’s text was not set to SINE NOMINE in The Hymnal 1940 and in some other hymnals, was because the copyright owner of the tune (Oxford University Press) would only allow it to be printed with “For all the saints.”[3]

II. Text: Analysis

Like other texts in this meter, including its predecessor (“For all the saints”), the three-line structure seems to require a tri-fold rhyme (AAA). Tucker navigated the structure well, although the fourth stanza is the weakest, with the reliance on the first line ending on “thou,” carrying over into line two. Tucker’s text also faces the disadvantage of relying heavily on exalted language (thee, thou, thine), including in rhymes, making it challenging to adapt for modern ears. As a result, it is either left as-is, or it is thoroughly revamped, as in The Worshipbook (1972; “All praise be yours, for you, O King divine,” repeated in Christian Worship, 1993), or in Hymns for Today’s Church (1987; “All praise to Christ, our Lord and King divine,” repeated in The Worshiping Church, 1990, and Ancient & Modern, 2013).

The first two stanzas are introductory and establish the overall message of Philippians 2:5–11, sometimes known as the kenosis hymn, which is marked by praise for Christ’s humble submission and resultant gift of salvation. These opening lines introduce other ideas not found in the main Scripture text, such as grace shining in darkened hearts, and care for the poor and outcast. Stanzas 3–5 are the Scripture paraphrase, following the same progression of thought as the New Testament text, starting with “Let this mind be in us which was in thee.” Tucker did not include the scriptural discussion of Jesus’ dual humanity and divinity, except by the brief name “King divine” in the first line. For “God’s eternal purpose,” injected into stanza 5, see Ephesians 3:11

The alleluias of the tune suit the text well. Bert Polman believed each alleluia “foreshadows the final victory celebration of Christ and his chosen people,”[4] while an introductory guidebook to the United Methodist Hymnal (1989) says “the concluding alleluias in each stanza affirm the Christian’s ecstatic confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.”[5]

Although the archaisms might be a stumbling block for some, the hymn is still widely printed and highly regarded. Raymond Glover, writing in 1994, remarked, “The test of time and the verdict of critics of hymnology mark this text as one of the finest works of F. Bland Tucker.”[6]

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
22 September 2020

For more on the tunes SINE NOMINE and ENGELBERG, see “For all the saints, who from their labour rest.” See also “When in our music God is glorified.” For another hymn based on Philippians 2:5–11, see “At the name of Jesus.”

Footnotes:

1. “All praise to thee, for thou, O King, divine,” The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd Rev. Ed. (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1956), p. 237.

2. F. Bland Tucker, “Reflections of a hymn writer,” The Hymn, vol. 30, no. 2 (April 1979), pp. 115–116: HathiTrust

3. This was reported by Carlton R. Young, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (1993), p. 199, and Bert Polman, “All praise to Christ, our Lord and King divine,” The Worshiping Church: Worship Leaders’ Edition (1990), no. 127.

4. Bert Polman, “All praise to Christ,” The Worshiping Church: Worship Leaders’ Edition (1990), no. 127.

5. “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” The Hymns of the United Methodist Hymnal, ed. Diana Sanchez (Nashville: Abingdon, 1989), p. 70; this entry is credited to Jane Marshall by Carlton Young (1993).

6. Raymond Glover, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3B (1994), p. 899.

Related Resources:

“All praise to thee, for thou, O King, divine,” The Hymnal 1940 Companion, 3rd Rev. Ed. (NY: Church Pension Fund, 1956), p. 237.

Stanley L. Osborne, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” If Such Holy Song (Whitby, Ontario: Institute of Church Music, 1976), no. 107.

Joseph F. Green, “All praise to thee,” Church Musician, vol. 28 (Sept. 1977), pp. 21–22.

Mark Alan Filbert, “An analysis of ‘All praise to Thee, for Thou, O King divine’ and ‘At the name of Jesus’ in relation to Philippians 2:6–11,” The Hymn, vol. 40, no. 3 (July 1989), pp. 12–15: HathiTrust

Bert Polman, “All praise to Christ, our Lord and King divine,” The Worshiping Church: Worship Leaders’ Edition (Carol Stream, IL: Hope, 1990), no. 127.

Carlton R. Young, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), pp. 198–199.

Raymond Glover, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3B (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994), p. 899.

Christopher I. Thoma & Joseph Herl, “All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 1230–1231.

“All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine,” Hymnary.org:
https://hymnary.org/text/all_praise_to_thee_for_thou_o_king_divin