C. Harold Lowden: Gospel Hymn Scores

Carl Harold Lowden wrote for the church, not the concert hall. His songs belong to the American gospel-hymn boom of the early twentieth century, when composers, publishers and evangelists worked closely together and a chorus had to be singable the first time through.

TuneViva holds 141 Lowden scores, most of them short hymns and gospel songs with words attached. The best-viewed title here is The dawn of victory, followed by As 'mid life's tangled maze I stand and When Christ alone shall reign in the world of sin. Nearly half the collection carries lyrics, so singers have plenty to work with.

About C. Harold Lowden

Lowden is usually identified as Carl Harold Lowden, an American gospel-song composer and music publisher active in the first half of the twentieth century. The catalog keeps both "C. Harold Lowden" and "Carl Harold Lowden" as variants. He is remembered today chiefly for the hymn "Living for Jesus", a setting of words by Thomas O. Chisholm, though that title is not among the scores listed here. His catalog presence is instead built from the shorter choruses and Sunday-school pieces that filled gospel hymnals.

The 141 scores are almost all marked classical in the catalog, a broad tag that here means notated church music rather than art music. Most are strophic hymns with repeated choruses, and 67 include lyrics. Titles such as Stand up, stand up for Jesus! and Christ, the Lord, is risen today show that Lowden also set familiar hymn texts, while The dawn of victory and Homeward bound! point to the missionary and heaven-focused themes common in gospel song.

The technical profile is modest: no score sits above complexity index 2, and most are at 0 or 1. Duration totals about 104 minutes for the whole collection, which works out at well under a minute per score, an indication of how short these pieces are. They suit pianists accompanying a congregation, sight-readers exploring the gospel repertoire, and anyone who wants to hear how a hymn tune behaves when the words are stripped away.

Listening and playing notes

Expect compact strophic hymns rather than through-composed art songs. The melodies sit mostly in the middle of the keyboard, harmonized with the four-square progressions of gospel song: tonic, subdominant and dominant, with occasional secondary dominants. Choruses repeat, so a congregation can join after one hearing. The lyric-bearing scores are the most rewarding to play through, because the words explain the phrase shapes. Tempos are moderate and textures thin; these are pieces to accompany singing, not to display technique.

Selected scores

  1. The Dawn of Victory

    The most-viewed Lowden score in the catalog, a gospel hymn with a confident opening.

  2. As 'Mid Life's Tangled Maze I Stand

    Second by catalog views, a reflective hymn text set in straightforward strophic form.

  3. When Christ Alone Shall Reign in the World of Sin

    A missionary-themed hymn and the third most-viewed title in the collection.

  4. Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus!

    Lowden's setting of the well-known call to Christian service.

  5. Christ, the Lord, Is Risen Today

    An Easter hymn setting among the collection's most-viewed pieces.

Questions about C. Harold Lowden

Was C. Harold Lowden a classical composer?

Not in the usual sense. He wrote gospel hymns and Sunday-school songs; the catalog's classical tag is a broad catch-all for notated music.

Did Lowden write the words as well as the music?

Sometimes. Many entries credit him with the tune while the text belongs to another writer, which is normal for gospel hymnody.

What is Lowden best known for?

He is usually remembered for the hymn "Living for Jesus", though that title is not among the scores in this catalog.

Browse all 141 scores

Catalog editions and arrangements attributed to C. Harold Lowden.

Related composer collections

J. Howard EntwisleJoseph Lincoln HallHaldor Lillenas

Sources