M. L. McPhail: gospel songs from Chicago

About M. L. McPhail

McPhail was born on 1 July 1854 at Baillieston in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and made his career in the American Midwest. He directed the choir at the First Methodist Church in Canton, Ohio, where President William McKinley worshipped, and later led the music department at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, a post he is said to have taken in 1893. Between about 1890 and 1910 he was closely associated with the Bible Students, and he travelled as a 'Pilgrim' for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society under Charles Taze Russell, compiling hymnbooks for that circle.

Those books are the backbone of his catalogue: Zion's Glad Songs, first issued in 1896 and expanded through several editions to the complete volume of 1908, Songs of Comfort, and the Winnowed Anthems published by Hope Publishing in 1916. He had written anthems for chorus or quartet since the mid-1880s. He died at Park Ridge, Illinois, on 24 November 1931.

The 51 scores are short vocal pieces, mostly strophic with refrains, and the words are often by other writers: 'Would you shine for Jesus', for example, has a text by G. M. Bills. Twenty-six files include lyrics and twenty-five do not, which suggests that some entries are textless or instrumental copies.

Listening and playing notes

McPhail writes for untrained singers: the melodies sit in a narrow range, the phrases are four or eight bars, and the refrain usually repeats the title. Keep the accompaniment simple and let the words come through. The marching pieces need a firm beat and clean consonants; the children's items go faster than they look. Where a piece has a choral refrain, mark the entries so the parts do not arrive late. These scores also work for accompanying a congregation that does not read music.

Selected scores

1. Like a Chime of Silver Bells

   The most-viewed item on the page and one of the most widely reprinted of his tunes.

2. Would You Shine for Jesus

   A Sunday-school piece with words by G. M. Bills, printed in The Gospel Chorus (1902).

3. I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

   His setting of Horatius Bonar's 1846 hymn; the catalogue adds his name to distinguish it from the many other tunes for the text.

4. Hallelujah, I Am Free

   An assurance hymn, listed in the catalogue under his full name, 'Matthew L. McPhail'.

5. A Little Talk with Jesus

   A prayer hymn on conversation with Christ, one of the quieter items in a catalogue dominated by revival pieces.

6. Forth to the Fight Ye Ransomed

   A marching hymn in the revival idiom, addressing the ransomed as soldiers of the cross.

7. What a Wonderful Change When Our Lord Shall Appear

   A hymn on the Second Coming, with the title phrase carrying the refrain.

8. Anywhere That Jesus Calls Me

   A consecration hymn, one of several in the catalogue on the theme of following Christ's call.

9. The Birds Are Singing on the Trees

   A children's spring hymn, one of the lighter items in a catalogue otherwise given to revival and consecration songs.

10. I Cannot Tell Why the Dear Savior Should Love Me

    A hymn of wonder at grace, cast as a question the singer cannot answer.