Charles Edward Prior: Sunday-school songs from Hartford

About Chas. Edw. Prior

Charles Edward Prior lived from 1856 to 1927, and the surviving notices of him are brief. He played the piano at the Italian Baptist Mission in Hartford, Connecticut, in the late nineteenth century, which places him in the evangelical urban milieu whose songbooks carried his tunes. Beyond that, standard hymn references record little: the Cyber Hymnal biography gives his birth near Moosup, Connecticut, on 24 January 1856, his death at Bridgeport on 27 June 1927, and his burial at Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford.

His songs belong to the Sunday-school and revival repertoire. Take the World but Give Me Jesus sets Robert Lowe Fletcher's text ('He who died, He loved me so') and was printed in Triumphant Songs No. 4, one of E. O. Excell's collections; it is the most-viewed title here. One Sweetly Solemn Thought sets Phoebe Cary's well-known meditation on heaven. Other titles address children's Sabbath services, Christmas and personal devotion, and the titles often read like first lines, which is typical of the gospel-song books of the period.

The catalogue holds 33 scores, about 21 minutes of music and 10,313 notated notes, with lyrics in 11. The complexity spread is broader than usual for this repertoire: four entries sit at index 0, fifteen at index 1 and fourteen at index 2. All are filed as classical, though the style is gospel song, and the low lyric count means that several files are melody-only or lack underlaid text. The parenthetical '(Prior)' in several titles appears to distinguish his setting from another composer's version of the same text.

Listening and playing notes

Prior's songs are strophic and tuneful, with the melody carrying the text and the accompaniment mostly supporting it. Keep the diction clear and do not let the piano anticipate the singer's consonants. In the Sunday-school pieces, a lighter touch and a steady pulse suit the repeated verses; in One Sweetly Solemn Thought, slow the harmonic rhythm rather than the beat. Several files are short enough to work as introits or as a single verse before a hymn, so check the number of stanzas before planning a performance.

Selected scores

1. Take the World but Give Me Jesus

   The most-viewed score at 42 views; a setting of Robert Lowe Fletcher's text, printed in Triumphant Songs No. 4.

2. Sing Me a Song of the Heavenly Land

   A gospel song in the Sunday-school idiom, with a refrain that invites repetition.

3. How Happy the Children Who Trust in the Lord

   A children's hymn whose title states its theme; the setting is short and strophic.

4. A Song, a Song to the Crystal Spring

   A lively title with a refrain-like opening, typical of the anniversary pieces in Sunday-school collections.

5. One Sweetly Solemn Thought

   A setting of Phoebe Cary's hymn about the nearness of heaven; the parenthetical distinguishes it from other settings.

6. Once More the Children's Sabbath Day

   A Sunday-school hymn whose title marks the recurring children's service, rather than a setting of the Sunday Eucharist.

7. Be Thou My Guide, Dear Lord, I Pray

   A prayer hymn in a simple homophonic texture; one of the more densely notated entries at index 2.

8. Beautiful Bethlehem, in Judea's Clime

   A Christmas song naming Bethlehem in its first line; the file adds accordion to the piano scoring.

9. I Love Thee, Lord, and Know Not How

   A devotional hymn of quiet affection, set syllabically and without display.