Come, Let Us Sing The Matchless Worth

Just been singing 196 together in our home remembrance of the Lord Jesus.Just the two of us now and a bit croaky,but awaiting that moment when with new voices we shall sing the Saviours grace!!Thank you for providing these wonderful hymns for us,especially all those by J.G.Deck.

Thankyou for this tune
I am more familiar with a different tune when I attended the Malacca Gospel Hall ( Malaysia ) in the early 1960s when I was in my early teens

Today I so glad to heard this tune
Thankyou to hear this hymn : Come let us singl the matchless worth

The tune being sung here is not Ariel but Pembroke (#106).

....and a better tune, I think

A less sombre melody to Hymn 196 is ‘Reuben’, by Samuel Wakely.”

In the 1932 Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Little Flock music edition, this hymn (also number 196) is set to a tune called Hull by S. Chandler (1812).

Reuben is also present in that book, but is set to:-

O Lord, how blest - as day by day we pass along our pilgrim way - to know that we are Thine!

Steve H

Nick, you mention the Little Flock Tune Book. Is this book still obtainable and who was the publisher? I was under the impression that the provenance of ‘Reuben’ was the ‘London’ brethren, rather than the former ‘Stuart’ brethren in the north of the U.K.

Alex,

Just over a year ago, I obtained a good music copy of the 1932 edition of Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Little Flock via eBay, which is in much better condition than our other copies.

These were originally available from the Stow Hill Bible ad Tract Depot, which at that time (i.e. in 1932) was situated at 22, Paternoster Row London E.C.4

Steve H

Thank you, Steve. I grew up with the 1932 “Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Little Flock”. As Nick wrote of ‘The Little Flock Tune Book’, I thought that this was perhaps an earlier or later edition.

The tune, “Reuben”, also suits well No. 107:

“O Jesus, Lord! ‘tis joy to know
Thy path is o’er of shame and woe,
For us so meekly trod . . .”

Thank you again for your help.

Thank you, Nick, for kindly offering assistance with my enquiry. This is much appreciated. As you have mentioned that a new edition of tunes for what used to be known as the ‘Little Flock’ hymnbook is forthcoming, if the Lord tarry, I shall not at present further trouble you.

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your kind comments.

There are both earlier and later music editions for Little Flock hymns, including one I only recently came across on this site - "Music Arranged for a few Hymns and some Spiritual Songs selected 1856 for the Little Flock.

There are Melodies and Chants adapted to "Hymns for the Little Flock" as revised 1903.

The Little Flock Tune Book (normally blue cover) appeared in 1954 with a Supplement (normally maroon cover) in 1965.

There is also a later (normally green cover) edition, but I don't have that one, so am unable to provide the details.

There are other good brethren hymn books (used mainly by the Open Brethren) , including The Believers Hymn Book - Revised Edition 1981 and Hymns of Light and Love -Words and Music Edition 1996.

Regards,

Steve H

Thank you once more, Steve. You have given a full response to my enquiry. I do appreciate your supplying the detailed history of these tune books.

Tune fixed from Ariel to Pembroke

The Red supplement is a fantastic musical achievement. It contains tunes of a very high calibre including those of Peter Pope. Alas it is not still in print. I keep a small stock of the tonic sol fa version and when I play the organ in Welsh chapels hereabouts and see the organist plays from Caneuon Dafydd in Tonic Sol Fa, I drop off a copy of the red book.

The Green Book is known as Chairman Frost's Little Green Book and is not really up to the standard of the blue and the red books. I think in its favour it has largely expunged the compositions of the totally unmusical Miss Shanks whose corpus is virtually unplayable and unsingable. The book is published by the Lancing "Permafrost" Depot.