Nearer, My God, to Thee (Horbury) — Choir of Wells Cathedral

The Wells Cathedral Choir perform the hymn 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' to the hymn tune 'Horbury'. This hymn tune is the most recognizable setting of the words in Anglican worship in the United Kingdom and was the melody used in the 1958 film 'A Night to Remember' as the ship sank.

A survivor of the RMS Titanic claims, perhaps apocryphally, that 'Nearer, My God, to Thee' was the final song performed aboard the sinking Titanic, but questions remain as to which, if any, of the hymn's three popular settings ('Bethany,' 'Hornbury,' and 'Propior Deo') was played.

Lyrics:

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song would be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

The with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• titanic
• rms titanic
• cathedral choir
• abbey choir
• choir
• chorus
• treble
• baritone
• boy soprano
• trebles
• choristers
• boy choristers
• girl choristers
• anglican
• hymn
• church music
• choirboy
• knabenchor
• petits chanteurs

[maartendas]

Uncanny. I just finished a poem about the love of God, which uses the image of a wave rolling over another wave, and right after I saved it, I clicked to watch this video.

[1finch2finch]

@maartendas You must be well tuned-in with the world today.

[TheTarget1980]

Unfortunately your version here is a little to "silent", is it possible to reload it lauther?

[1finch2finch]

@TheTarget1980 I haven't done anything to the sound of the original file, so I, unfortunately, amn't sure why it should sound so quiet. If I fuss with the volume in an audio programme, the sound will get 'fuzzy' with white noise, and the quality will be compromised. If you have any suggestions, though, for how to increase the volume without compromising quality, I'd be glad to re-upload.

[TheTarget1980]

"Horbury" was more popular in England, so Wallace Hartley, bandleader of the titanic, as an englishmen, would have played this. And if i remember correctly, an old survivor, Eva HArt, sings this version when she remembered speaking about titanics last song.

[1finch2finch]

@TheTarget1980 There's still a bit of confusion, I think, because Hartley was a Methodist and would have been familiar with the 'Propior Deo' tune in addition to 'Horbury', which, as you've said, is certainly more common than any of the others in the Anglican Church. At least we can be quite sure that 'Bethany', no matter what James Cameron's film might lead us to believe, is almost certainly wrong!

[rweerakkody4565]

We will never know which song was really sung on the Titanic.

[rweerakkody4565]

I prefer Horbury over Bethany.

[America100000able]

@TheTarget1980

Put on earphones/headphones.

[America100000able]

This is actually the version of Nearer My God To Thee that the Titanic band could have played while the ship was sinking. The only other version of Nearer My God To Thee the band could have played was Propior Duo, because these are the only two versions the band knew. 

[Hirvassalo]

@therealjoebloggs I guess that has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the fact that "Bethany" happens to be the most popular and recognizable version...everywhere except in Great Britain.

That's why Cameron chose it for his "Titanic," but "Horbury" for his "Ghosts of the Abyss."

[therealjoebloggs]

@TheTarget1980 And yet "Bethany" persists; as John Ford opined in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, "Print the legend."