"Abide with Me" is a Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican Henry Francis Lyte most often sung to English composer William Henry Monk's tune entitled "Eventide".
Lyte wrote the poem in 1847 and set it to music while he lay dying from tuberculosis; he survived only a further three weeks after its completion.
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Lyrics
The hymn is a prayer for God to remain present with the speaker throughout life, through trials, and through death. The opening line alludes to Luke 24:29, "Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent", and the penultimate verse draws on text from 1 Corinthians 15:55, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?":
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Tune
The hymn tune most often used with this hymn is "Eventide" composed by William Henry Monk in 1861.
Alternative tunes include:
- "Abide with Me," Henry Lyte, 1847
- "Morecambe", Frederick C. Atkinson, 1870
- "Penitentia", Edward Dearle, 1874
- "Woodlands", Walter Greatorex 1916
Popular use
Religious services
The hymn is popular across many Christian denominations and was said to be a favourite of King George V and Mahatma Gandhi. It is also often sung or played at Christian funerals. Some prominent documented occasions of its use are listed below:
- The hymn was played by the Mysore Palace Band when Gandhi visited the Kingdom of Mysore.
- In the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, survivors reported that the Titanic's band played the hymn as the ship was sinking, although detailed studies have identified other songs played by the band.
- The hymn was also played at the State funeral of the titular Maharaja of Mysore, Srikanta Wadiyar.
- The nurse Edith Cavell is said to have sung the hymn with a chaplain in her cell the evening before she was shot by the Germans in 1915.
- The hymn was played at the funeral of Richard M. Nixon.
Military services
The hymn is sung at the annual Anzac Day services in Australia and New Zealand, and in some Remembrance Day services in Canada and the United Kingdom. It is also played by the combined bands of the Indian Armed Forces during the annual Beating Retreat ceremony held on 29 January at Vijay Chowk, New Delhi, which officially marks the end of Republic Day celebrations. A choral version of this hymn has been arranged by Moses Hogan.
Music
- Phrases of the finale of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 9 are often noted for their similarity to Monk's Eventide.
- Ralph Vaughan Williams composed an orchestral prelude on the tune for the Hereford Festival of 1936.
- Thelonious Monk recorded an instrumental version of "Abide with Me" with his jazz septet as the first track of the 1957 album Monk's Music. In 2006, two different takes of the recording were released on The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings, an anthology of Thelonious Monk's work with John Coltrane.
- The hymn was also set to music around 1890 by the American composer Charles Ives, and was published in his collection Thirteen Songs in 1958, four years after his death.
- Doris Day recorded this song on her 1962 album You'll Never Walk Alone.
- The pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards played the hymn in their 2007 album, Spirit of the Glen.
- Hayley Westenra recorded the hymn on her third international album, Treasure, and performed it live at various sporting events, including the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final in August 2009.
- An instrumental version appears on the 2009 David Friesen David Friesen release, Vanishing the Darkness.
- In 2013, Joe McElderry and the Royal Mail Choir recorded the song, and it was released as a charity single on 14 April 2013, raising money for Prostate Cancer UK. This version reached number 19 in the UK indie charts.
- At Portora Royal School (the school Henry Francis Lyte attended) the song has become the school's victory song and is sung at the annual Portora Remembrance Service.
- Alex Sharpe recorded her version of the hymn on her 2014 album, Be Still My Soul.
- The Inspirational Choir recorded this song for their debut album Sweet Inspiration
In sport
Since the 1927 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Cardiff City, the first and last verses of the hymn are traditionally sung at the FA Cup Final before the kick-off of the match, at around 2.45 pm BST.
The hymn featured on the B-side of the 1989 charity single Ferry Cross the Mersey, which was recorded in memory of the Hillsborough disaster victims.
The hymn has been sung prior to the kick-off at every Rugby League Challenge Cup Final since 1929, the first final to be held at Wembley Stadium.
"Abide with Me" was also sung at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, performed by Scottish recording artist Emeli Sandé, as part of a memorial sequence to commemorate those who died in the 7/7 attacks in London in 2005.
In film and television
- 1939 film Idiot's Delight, sung by Norma Shearer and Clark Gable
- 1953 film Shane
- TV movie Miss Marple: Nemesis (1987)
- TV series Twilight Zone (1962) - In episode "The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank"
- Film Fist of Fury (1972) - Played by brass band in funeral scene
- TV series Scenes from a Marriage (1973) - In episode "Innocence and Panic"
- TV series Ripping Yarns (1976-79) - In episode "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite"
- Film A Bridge Too Far (1977) - Sung by wounded British paratroopers at a field hospital
- TV Doctor Who:
- In episode "Kinda" (1982)
- In episode "Gridlock" (2007)
- Film The Full Monty (1997) - in funeral scene
- Film Crush (2001) - during interrupted wedding scene
- Film 28 Days Later (2002) - while Jim, Mark and Selena are going to Jim's parents' house
- TV series Touched by an Angel (2002) - in episode where Tess develops Alzheimer's disease
- TV series Fat Friends (2003) - sung by the congregation at Rebecca's father's funeral
- Film Latter Days (2003)
- TV series Carnivàle (2004-05)
- TV series Lost (2004-10) - in episode where character Charlie is in confession
- TV series Ashes to Ashes (2008-10) - in episode about Sgt. Viv James's funeral
- TV miniseries Oliver Twist (2007) - taught to Oliver by Rose, sung by Oliver for Bill Sykes
- TV series Doc Martin series 5 episode 2 at the funeral of Joan (September 2011)
- TV miniseries The Roosevelts - episode 7, during Eleanor's funeral (September 2014)
- TV series Parks and Recreation - season 6 episode 1, played on bagpipes while Ron Swanson is visiting Scotland
- TV series Home and Away, Episode 6180 - sung at the ANZAC Day service (April 2015)
- 2016 film Brimstone
In literature
- In George Orwell's Burmese Days, Flory begins attending church services after turning his mistress out of his house. One of the hymns the small congregation sings along to the sound of a tiny harmonium is "Abide with Me".
- In the SF novel Voyage by Stephen Baxter, the joint US-Soviet crew of a fictional space station in lunar orbit recite five of the verses as a tribute to three astronauts who were killed following an accident aboard another spacecraft.
- "Change and decay in all around I see" flash through Belinda's mind in chapter 15 of Some Tame Gazelle, the first published (in England, last published in the US) of Barbara Pym's novels.
- In Sir Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals, Archchancellor Ridcully exclaims, "Change and decay!" Ridcully declared to the night air. "I am surrounded by traitors! They thwart me at every turn." when unable to obtain a night snack or tobacco.
Other media
- Ray Copeland, trumpet; Gigi Gryce, alto sax; Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane, tenor saxes - on Thelonious Monk album Monk's Music (1957).
- Vic Reeves - 1991 dance-mixed version
- Elton John - 1997 album Carnival: Rainforest Foundation Concert
- ITV - coverage of FA Cup competition until 2009
- Old Harry's Game (BBC Radio 4) - Series 1 & 4; Professor Richard Whittingham mentions that his favourite poem was written by Henry Francis Lyte, and proceeds to recite it to Thomas and Scumspawn. He is also taken to the church where Thomas' father is Vicar and proceeds to weep as "Every Cup Final it would get to me".
Other
- Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) - 1968 at transfer of power.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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