Geo. C. Stebbins: the singing evangelist's hymns

About Geo. C. Stebbins

George Coles Stebbins was born on 26 February 1846 in Orleans County, New York, and grew up on a farm. He moved to Chicago in 1869 to begin a musical career, became musical director of the First Baptist Church there in 1870, and later led music at Clarendon Street Baptist Church and Tremont Temple in Boston. He studied voice seriously and was a soloist as well as a conductor, but his lasting reputation rests on the hymns he wrote and compiled.

He joined Moody's evangelistic work in 1876 after visiting him at Northfield, Massachusetts, and worked alongside Moody and Sankey for roughly a quarter of a century. He organized choirs, edited hymnbooks, and traveled widely: with the evangelist George F. Pentecost to India in 1890, and for song services in Egypt, Palestine, and several European cities. He was one of the editors of the Gospel Hymns series and later sole editor of the Northfield Hymnal. He led singing at large YMCA, Sunday-school, and Christian Endeavor gatherings.

His best-known hymns include Jesus Is Calling, Jesus I Come, Have Thine Own Way, Lord, and Take Time to Be Holy. He died on 6 October 1945 at the age of ninety-nine, the last surviving member of Moody's original circle of associates. The catalogue's abbreviated credit reflects how his name appeared on sheet music and hymnals of the period.

Listening and playing notes

The writing is homophonic and voice-friendly: melodies in the soprano or solo line, block-chord accompaniment, and refrains that repeat. Expect dotted rhythms in the marching songs and longer, more sustained lines in the devotional ones. The harmony is conventional, with occasional chromatic passing chords for colour. Keep the tempo firm and the refrain lively. For the solos, such as Thou art my Rock, a little dynamic shaping goes a long way, but avoid turning them into art songs; they were written to carry a text in a hall.

Selected scores

1. Thou Art My Rock, O Blessed Redeemer

   By a wide margin the most-viewed Stebbins score here, a devotional solo with a confident refrain.

2. The Sands of Time Are Sinking

   His setting of Anne Ross Cousin's hymn, marked to distinguish it from other tunes for the same text.

3. Hark! Hark, My Soul! Angelic Songs Are Swelling

   A setting of Frederick Faber's hymn, one of the more lyrical texts in the collection.

4. There's a Wideness in God's Mercy

   Another familiar hymn text in a Stebbins setting, showing his editorial habit of re-tuning standard hymns.

5. We're Soldiers of the King

   A marching gospel song for young people's societies, with the brisk refrain typical of the genre.

6. When I Shall Wake in That Fair Morn of Morns

   A heaven-focused hymn, one of several in the collection that look toward the life to come.