Silas J. Vail: Close to Thee and the gospel hymn

About Silas Jones Vail

Vail was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1818 and spent his working life as a manufacturer of hats. Music was an amateur pursuit, but a serious one: he compiled a long series of collections, beginning with The Athenaeum Collection (1863), which included unpublished songs by Stephen Foster, and continuing with Chapel Melodies (1868), a book for prayer meetings and family devotion. In 1874 he joined Horace Waters and W. F. Sherwin in preparing Songs of Grace and Glory for the temperance movement. The Diadem, a collection for Sunday schools and devotional meetings, followed in 1885.

His best-known tune is CLOSE TO THEE, written for Crosby's 'Thou my everlasting portion'. Crosby recalled in her memoirs that the words came to her in 1874 as she thought about the nearness of God, and Vail printed the hymn in Songs of Grace and Glory that same year. He also wrote music for 'The Gate Ajar for Me' (words by Lydia Baxter), 'Scatter Seeds of Kindness' (May R. Smith), 'The Guiding Hand' (Crosby) and 'Nothing but Leaves' (Lucy Ackerman). He died in 1884.

The 38 scores run to about 20 minutes and 10,792 notated notes, with 23 entries at complexity index 0, 14 at index 1 and one at index 2. CLOSE TO THEE appears twice, once under its tune name and once under the opening line of Crosby's text, and the gate hymn likewise appears as both 'The Gate Ajar for Me' and 'There Is a Gate That Stands Ajar'. The Portuguese entry is the only one the catalogue leaves without a genre.

Listening and playing notes

Vail's tunes are short, square and refrain-driven, and they rely on a clear soprano line. Keep the verses steady and let the refrain lift rather than accelerate. The four-part writing is homophonic, so balance the chords and do not let the alto and tenor disappear under the melody. In 'Close to Thee' the repeated phrase of the refrain is the point; shape each repetition slightly differently instead of singing it four identical times. Accompaniments should support the voices without doubling them heavily.

Selected scores

1. Eis que vem o Verdadeiro

   The most-viewed score on the page, a Portuguese-language hymn; the catalogue gives no translator and leaves the genre blank.

2. My Life Flows On in Endless Song

   The catalogue attributes a Vail setting of the text better known today through Robert Lowry's tune; compare the first page before assuming which tune it is.

3. The Gate Ajar for Me

   Lydia Baxter's hymn about the open gate of mercy, one of Vail's most reprinted tunes.

4. Thou My Everlasting Portion

   Fanny Crosby's text under its opening line, the same music that appears under the tune name CLOSE TO THEE.

5. There Is a Gate That Stands Ajar

   A second entry for the gate hymn, titled from the first line of the verse rather than from the refrain.

6. Close to Thee

   The tune under its proper name, written in 1874 for Crosby and printed in Songs of Grace and Glory.

7. The Guiding Hand

   A Crosby text on providence, set in the same strophic-with-refrain pattern as Close to Thee.

8. 'Tis a Goodly Pleasant Land

   A pilgrim hymn whose long first line serves as the catalogue title.

9. The Palace of the King

   A hymn on heaven, one of the 23 entries at complexity index 0.

10. Scatter Seeds of Kindness

    May R. Smith's temperance-adjacent hymn of good works, among Vail's most durable tunes.