Love divine, all loves excelling

with
HYMN IX
WESTMINSTER
BEECHER
LOVE DIVINE
BLAENWERN
HYFRYDOL 

I. Text: Origins

This hymn on the Second Coming by Charles Wesley was first printed in a small collection, Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That Have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ (1747). The original text spanned four stanzas of eight lines. The heading “To—Jesus, shew us thy salvation” is in reference to a tune given in Hymns on the Great Festivals (1746; more on this below).

The hymn was published again in Select Hymns with Tunes Annext (1761), edited by John, without change, and that same year in Hymns for Those to Whom Christ is All in All (1761), edited by Charles, reduced to three stanzas (1,3,4). The full, unaltered hymn was also included in Sacred Harmony (1780). When it was printed in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodist (1780), edited by John, it was reduced to three stanzas (1,3,4), with changes at 3.2 (“life” became “grace”), and 4.2 (“sinless” became “spotless”). The 1780 text was repeated in the revised edition of A Pocket Hymn Book (1787).

Two manuscript versions survive. The oldest is MS Thirty (ca. 1742–1743), pp. 135–136. The other is MS Coleman 21, p. 56, in John Wesley’s hand, in which he “transcribed some two hundred hymns . . . In most cases only a few key words or key lines are given, in a highly abbreviated script. The seems to have been a preliminary selection for a standard hymn-book.”[1] These are held at the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in Manchester.

Some common alterations to the hymn are very old. In the second stanza, “Let us find thy promised rest” is from Martin Madan, A Collection of Psalms and Hymns (1760), and his line “Pure, unspotted may we be” possibly influenced John Wesley’s alteration in 1780. Augustus Toplady, in his Psalms and Hymns (1776), repeated Madan’s “promised rest,” introduced “Take away the love of sinning,” and offered “Pure and holy may we be.”

For a fuller account of this hymn’s contextual, historical, and doctrinal concerns, including the text’s origins as a parody, and the debate between John and Charles regarding the message of the second stanza, plus scholarly analysis, please see Chris Fenner & Roger Duke, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” in Amazing Love! How Can It Be: Studies on Hymns by Charles Wesley (2020), pp. 86–94, also 114–123 (Amazon).

For a line-by-line Scripture analysis, see Bailey (1950), Lawson (1987), or Watson & Trickett (1988).

II. HYMN IX / WESTMINSTER

When the hymn was first printed in Hymns for Those That Seek (1747), it included a recommendation for an ambitious tune by John Frederick Lampe (1703–1751) as in Hymns on the Great Festivals (1746), where it had been set to “Jesu, show us thy salvation” by Charles Wesley. The Wesleys were good friends with Lampe, and they were fans of opera, not afraid to include tunes in their collections suitable for skilled singers. Nevertheless, the tune was not repeated in any other Wesleyan tune books, and it was only repeated by one other tunebook compiler.

The other factor limiting the use of Lampe’s tune was the reality of “Love divine, all loves excelling” being a parody of an opera song, “Fairest isle, all isles excelling,” King Arthur, Act V, Scene 2, words by John Dryden (1631–1700), with music by Henry Purcell (1659–1695). Consequently, when John Wesley assembled Select Hymns with Tunes Annext (1761), he included an adaptation of Purcell’s tune for congregational singing under the name WESTMINSTER. This was repeated in Sacred Harmony (1780), uncredited. Wesley was not the first to print Purcell’s tune as a hymn tune; it had appeared in The Divine Musical Miscellany (a tunebook for George Whitefield’s church, 1754), called DUBLIN and set to “Loving saviour, prince of peace,” and it was included in Thomas Butts’ Harmonia Sacra (ca. 1754), called WESTMINSTER and set to “Love divine.”

For an example of this tune in a congregational four-part setting in a modern hymnal, see the Methodist Hymns & Psalms (1983). It was not carried over into Singing the Faith (2011), where the editors dropped it in favor of BLAENWERN.

III. BEECHER

One of the most common tune settings for Wesley’s hymn has been BEECHER by John Zundel (1815–1882), first published in Christian Heart Songs (1870). Zundel was a German-born composer who emigrated to the U.S. in 1847. In describing the sources of the tunes in his collection, he wrote:

During my short stay in the First Unitarian Church in Brooklyn, and St. George’s (Dr. Tyng’s) in New York, I composed mainly tunes for quartette singing (Ropes, Bainbridge, Clara, Lafon, Morning, Sampson, etc.), and some Episcopal music, but by far the greater portion, composed during my now nearly eighteen years’ connection with Plymouth (Rev. H.W. Beecher’s) Church, have been written with a view to their use by large choirs, or perhaps in congregational singing. . . . A number of pages furnish also tunes composed with the special view of serving for choir practice and for the singing-class.

This one was written for the Plymouth Church and paired with “Love divine, all loves excelling.” It was named after his pastor. It is a strong tune, found in many collections, especially in America.

Hymnologist Erik Routley viewed BEECHER as one of the best of its time, although Zundel’s harmonization left something to be desired:

Perhaps one of the best [American tunes] from the later 19th century is the still widely used BEECHER. Its composer was a German immigrant, John Zundel (1815–1882) who was organist of several churches in the New York metropolitan area. Zundel was a typical disciple of Mason in being the first to promote real congregational singing in the most famous church he served (Plymouth, Brooklyn, where Henry Ward Beecher was minister) and BEECHER is certainly a sound congregational tune. But it is, surely, ruined by its stagnant and sticky bass; it is indeed one of the few 19th century “period pieces” which can be greatly improved, without losing any of its character, by radical rewriting of the bass counterpoint.[2]

Reformed hymnologist Bert Polman was also favorable toward the tune, writing, “BEECHER is a strong tune with clean rhythms that should be sung in harmony and with solid organ support (st. 4 needs more modesty).”[3] Episcopal hymnist Carl Daw was much less enthused, although his complaint, like Routley’s, was aimed mostly toward the harmonization:

The tune is organized into four phrases in the pattern AA'BA', approximating a kind of rounded bar form. This structure facilitates learning and singing, but with repeated hearing it can prove overly repetitious. The recurring patterns of thirds and sixths in the upper clef and the numerous repeated notes in the lower clef (nearly all traceable to the original harmonization) combine to yield a rather cloying monotony. Its continuing appearance in many hymnals probably says more about this tune’s nostalgic appeal than about its musical quality.[4]

IV. LOVE DIVINE

This tune by John Stainer (1840–1901) was first published in the Complete Ed. (Revised & Enlarged with Supplement) of Hymns Ancient & Modern (1889). In 1888, Stainer had to resign his post at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, on account of failing eyesight; that was also the year he was knighted. He was appointed Professor of Music at Oxford in 1889.

V. BLAENWERN

Another popular tune associated with this hymn is BLAENWERN, a tune by William Penfro Rowlands (1860–1937). The tune was reportedly composed during the Welsh revival, ca. 1904–1905, when Rowlands was a schoolteacher, conductor of the Morriston United Choral Society, and precentor of Tabernacle Congregational Church, Morriston, Swansea. It likely circulated in leaflets, formally and informally, for several years, but none of these have been identified and preserved. The earliest known printing was in Cân a Moliant (1916 | Fig. 7), edited by Henry Haydn Jones, in Tonic Sol-Fa notation. As for Rowlands’ choice of name for the tune, “During his boyhood years he suffered from an acute and serious illness from which he recuperated on a small farm named Blaenwern, near Tufton in his home county.”[5]

The connection between BLAENWERN and “Love divine” is usually credited to the Salvation Army Tune Book Supplement (1953 | Fig. 8), and some credit for the tune’s popularity has been granted to Billy Graham crusades and their song books, many of which were printed in the 1950s (Fig. 9). J.R. Watson felt this tune was “Grander and more responsive to the sublime element of the hymn” than Purcell’s or Stainer’s tunes.[6]

VI. HYFRYDOL

For the HYFRYDOL tune, see “Come, thou long-expected Jesus.” This text-tune combination can be found as early as The Book of Praise (1918), published by the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Methodist scholar Carlton Young referred to HYFRYDOL as “a more appropriate setting” than BEECHER (a “lightweight tune”).[7]

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
7 October 2022

Footnotes:

1. Frank Baker, Representative Verse of Charles Wesley (Nashville: Abingdon, 1962), p. 390.

2. Erik Routley, The Music of Christian Hymns (Chicago: GIA, 1981), p. 124.

3. Bert Polman, “Now with joyful exultation,” Psalter Hymnal Handbook (Grand Rapids: CRC, 1998), p. 228.

4. Carl Daw, “Called as partners in Christ’s service,” Glory to God: A Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2016), p. 726.

5. Edward Darling & Donald Davison, “God is here! As we his people” Companion to Church Hymnal (Dublin: Columba, 2005), p. 463.

6. J.R. Watson, An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (2002), p. 197.

7. Carlton R. Young, Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (1993), p. 477.

Related Resources:

Albert Edward Bailey, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” The Gospel in Hymns (NY: Scribner’s Sons, 1950), pp. 95–97.

Erik Routley, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Hymns and the Faith (London: John Murray, 1955), pp. 135–140.

John Lawson, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” A Thousand Tongues (London: Paternoster, 1987), pp. 193–195.

J.R. Watson & Kenneth Trickett, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Companion to Hymns & Psalms (Peterborough: Methodist Publishing, 1988), p. 180.

Fred L. Precht, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Lutheran Worship Hymnal Companion (St. Louis: Concordia, 1992), pp. 302–303.

Carlton R. Young, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal (Nashville: Abingdon, 1993), pp. 476–477.

GW/AL, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” The Hymnal 1982 Companion, vol. 3B (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1994), pp. 1203–1206.

J.R. Watson, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” An Annotated Anthology of Hymns (Oxford: University Press, 2002), pp. 195–196.

Edward Darling & Donald Davison, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Companion to Church Hymnal (Dublin: Columba, 2005), pp. 821–822.

Robert Cottrill, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Wordwise Hymns (3 Oct. 2012): WH

David Rogner & Joe Herl, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Lutheran Service Book Companion to the Hymns, vol. 1 (St. Louis: Concordia, 2019), pp. 949–952.

Leland Ryken, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” 40 Favorite Hymns on the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2019), pp. 61–64: Amazon

John Gray, “William Penfro Rowlands: composer of ‘Blaenwern,’” Swansea History Journal—Minerva, vol. 27 (2019/20), pp. 104–107.

Chris Fenner & Roger Duke, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Amazing Love! How Can It Be: Studies on Hymns by Charles Wesley (Eugene, OR: Resource, 2020), pp. 86–94, also 114–123: Amazon

Martin V. Clarke, “Love divine, all loves excelling,” Sing with Understanding, 3rd ed., edited by C. Michael Hawn (Chicago: GIA, 2022), pp. 305–306.

“Love divine, all loves excelling,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/love_divine_all_love_excelling_joy_of_he