Category: Basil Harwood (1859 – 1949)

Basil Harwood (1859 – 1949) was an English organist and composer. He was born in Woodhouse, Gloucestershire (the second youngest of 12 children) on 11 April 1859. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Oxford (MusB 1880, BA 1881, MA 1884, MusD 1896). He then studied for a further year at the Leipzig Conservatory under Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn. He became organist of St. Barnabas Church, Pimlico in 1883 then moved to Ely Cathedral in 1887. His final appointment was at Christ Church, Oxford from 1892 to 1909. Whilst there he co-founded and conducted the Oxford Bach Choir, served as precentor of Keble College, Oxford and conducted the Oxford Orchestral Association (1892-1898) and was musical editor of the 1908 Oxford Hymn Book.

During this time, he met and married Mabel Ada Jennings (the daughter of George Jennings) at All Souls St. Marylebone, London (27 December 1899). Mabel had studied music herself and was also a writer. She may well have composed lyrics for some of his lesser known tunes[citation needed].

He was a keen walker, and named many of his hymn tunes after local places that he loved to visit.

He retired early at 50 (in 1909) after the death of his father, Edward Harwood, from whom he inherited the family estate of Woodhouse having outlived his seven older brothers. He continued to compose after this time. Part of the estate was later sold to his contemporary Robert Baden-Powell who was two years older than him and who had also attended Charterhouse School.

After a long life, he died on 3 April 1949 at Courtfield Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington, London. Mabel survived him, dying shortly before her 103rd birthday on 20 July 1974. He was survived by two sons; John Edward Godfrey Harwood (1900-1996) and Basil Antony Harwood (1903-1990) Senior Master of the Supreme Court, Q.B.D. and Queen’s Remembrancer.

His remains are interred in St. Barnabas Church, Pimlico and marked by a plaque inset in the nave, just below the top altar.

Let all the world in every corner sing (Luckington)

Lyrics

Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!
The heavens are not too high, His praise may thither fly,
The earth is not too low, His praises there may grow.
Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!

Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!
The church with psalms must shout, no door can keep them out;
But, above all, the heart must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing, my God and King!

Recording

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Details

Tune: Luckington
Meter: 10 4 66 66 10 4
Style: Early 20th Century
Composer: Basil Harwood (1859 – 1949)
Lyricist: George Herbert (1593 – 1633)
Music and Lyrics Copyright Public Domain.
Performance ℗ 2019 Richard M S Irwin. All Rights Reserved. ISRC UKTU21900020

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Thy hand, O God, has guided (Thornbury)

Lyrics

Thy hand, O God, has guided
Thy flock from age to age;
The wondrous tale is written,
Full clear, on every page;
Our fathers owned Thy goodness,
And we their deeds record;
And both of this bear witness,
“One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”

Thy heralds brought glad tidings,
To greatest, as to least;
They bade men rise, and hasten
To share the great King’s feast;
And this was all their teaching,
In every deed and word,
To all alike proclaiming,
“One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”

Through many a day of darkness,
Through many a scene of strife,
The faithful few fought bravely,
To guard the nation’s life,
Their Gospel of redemption,
Sin pardoned, man restored,
Was all in this enfolded,
“One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”

And we, shall we be faithless?
Shall hearts fail, hands hang down?
Shall we evade the conflict,
And cast away our crown?
Not so: in God’s deep counsels
Some better thing is stored:
We will maintain, unflinching,
“One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”

Thy mercy will not fail us,
Nor leave Thy work undone;
With Thy right hand to help us,
The victory shall be won;
And then, by men and angels,
Thy Name shall be adored,
And this shall be their anthem,
“One Church, one Faith, one Lord.”