Abide With Me

Grade Level 1

Year: 2005

Type: Hymn/Song Arrangement

Composer: Robert Redhead

Program Notes:

This hymn was the last composition by Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1847) and has brought more comfort and hope to stricken people around the world than many a sermon. He served the congregation of a church in the little fishing port of Brixham in Devon, England, and became so weak and ill by his devotion to his flock, that his doctors ordered him to move to the South of France where the climate would be more conducive to his recovery.  On the evening of the Sunday prior to his departure, he went for his usual stroll, meditating sadly on the farewell words he had just addressed to his congregation.  On returning home, he went to his study, and later that evening, presented his family with these beautiful words, “Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.” The next morning, he left for Nice and died there a few months later, never returning to his home.

This setting is based on the first and last verses, “Abide with me; fast falls the eventide,” and “Hold Thou the cross before my closing eyes…In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!”

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)