I Need Thee Every Hour | Prof E.C Bilson |Singspiration Chorale

Tune : Rebecca Bilson Composer: E. C. Bilson Meter: 6.4 6.4 Conductor: Miss Chinaza Nkwo (14 years award winning Conductor) I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord; no tender voice like thine can peace afford. I need thee, O I need thee; every hour I need thee; O bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee. This hymn by Annie Sherwood Hawks (1835-1918) reflects the same general characteristics as those of the other four 19th-century women hymn writers discussed during Lent. The women all employ first-person accounts that grow out a deep personal piety, resulting in a language of intimacy between the singer and the Savior. A New York native, Hawks displayed a gift for verse at the early age of 14, contributing poems on a regular basis to a variety of newspapers. Though she composed over 400 hymn texts, "I Need Thee Every Hour" is the only hymn of hers that is still sung today. "One day as a young wife and mother of 37 years of age, I was busy with my regular household tasks during a bright June morning [in 1872]. Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me -- 'I Need Thee Every Hour. . . .'" Lowry added a refrain as he wrote the music for the hymn. The language of submission that accompanies some 19th-century gospel hymns. For example, Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) begins the second stanza of "Blessed Assurance," with "Perfect submission, perfect delight." Lowry's refrain adds "I come to thee" - another note of submission - to Hawks' "I need thee every hour." These personal devotional hymns by 19th-century women have their place. They provide glimpses into the lives of women segregated from the positions of leadership (even in the Church) by gender, leading lives separate from their spouses primarily in domestic settings, and with little or no voice in the public arena. Now, the sermons and speeches made by so many men in the public sectors of church and society have long been forgotten, but the songs of these women, whose primary arena was the relative quiet of the home, are still sung. When this hymn was first published in 1873, this Bible verse was included underneath the title: “Without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5 KJV). Each of the first four stanzas of this hymn dwells on a different facet of our dependence on God: our need for His peace, our inability to resist temptation alone, our need to find true meaning in life, and our desire to see God's promises fulfilled. The fifth stanza is an intense plea for God's presence. Executive Producer: Dr Daniel Ezekwudo Executive Director: Maestro Joshua Ekeh Technical Director: Sir Nnaemeka Akposionu Cinématography: Amasolon Films & Photographs Editor: Ani Henry Facebook: Singspiration Chorale - https://www.facebook.com/Singspiratio... WhatsApp: +2349033301599 Instagram: https://instagram.com/singspiration_c... #choralmusic #choirmusic #lent #singspiration #nigeria #hymn #lent2024 #churchmusic #chorale #ashwednesday #ashwednesday2024