Maltbie D. Babcock: carols from a Presbyterian pulpit

About Maltbie D. Babcock

Babcock was born in Syracuse, New York, on 3 August 1858, graduated from Syracuse University in 1879 and from Auburn Theological Seminary in 1882. He was pastor at Lockport, then from 1887 to 1900 at Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, where his preaching made him one of the best-known ministers in the country; in 1900 he moved to the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York.

He died in Naples on 18 May 1901, aged 42, on the way home from a journey to Egypt and Palestine, and his verse was gathered after his death. This Is My Father's World, written at Lockport, appeared in print shortly after his death and became the hymn that carried his name. A collection called Hymns and Carols, issued in 1903, printed the carols that fill this page, among them Why do bells for Christmas ring? and Ring, ye happy Christmas bells.

The catalogue's labelling is worth reading closely. Entries such as We three kings of Orient are (Babcock) and O little town of Bethlehem (Babcock) use texts by other writers with a tune attributed to Babcock; the entries without a parenthetical name are his own words and music. Nothing here runs long: the whole page amounts to about twelve minutes of music.

Listening and playing notes

These are short carols for unison or simple four-part singing, so intonation depends on the accompaniment rather than on virtuosity. Keep the tempo brisk enough for the words to stay intelligible, and do not let the bell figures in Ring, ye happy Christmas bells turn into a drumbeat. In a carol such as We three kings the tune is the argument, so give the melody one clear colour and hold the harmony back. If you are playing for a service, plan the last verse before you begin, because the pieces are too short to build an ending on the spot.

Selected scores

1. We Three Kings of Orient Are (Babcock)

   The most-viewed entry: John Henry Hopkins Jr's text with a tune the catalogue assigns to Babcock.

2. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Babcock)

   Nahum Tate's Christmas text to a Babcock tune, labelled to separate it from the standard setting.

3. O Little Town of Bethlehem (Babcock)

   Phillips Brooks's carol in a Babcock setting rather than the familiar St Louis or Forest Green.

4. Ring, Ye Happy Christmas Bells

   One of his own carols, with words and music printed in Hymns and Carols in 1903.

5. Why Do Bells for Christmas Ring?

   A carol for children, first printed in Hymns and Carols in 1903.

6. Little Bird, Little Bird, Singing in the Tree

   A short song outside the Christmas group, from the same posthumous collection.

7. What Child Is This, Who, Laid to Rest (Babcock)

   William Chatterton Dix's words to a tune attributed to Babcock, not the Greensleeves setting.

8. The Son of God Goes Forth to War (Babcock)

   Reginald Heber's hymn of discipleship, one of the few entries not tied to Christmas.

9. We Thank Thee, Dear Father

   A children's hymn of thanks for the night, in the same simple strophic form.

10. Saw You Never, in the Twilight

    A Christmas carol on the shepherds, from the 1903 collection.