The San Francisco call., 1906-04-15

think Of anything. quite suitable. so I
sat up at night resolved 10 write some
thing myself Onward, Christian Sol
ciers was the result. Il was written
IN great haste. and l am afraid that
some OF the lines are faulty Certainly
nothing has surprised me mere than its
great popularity And tais hymn, inn
provised for a lot Of marching boys,
has gtrdled the globe
The most popular musical setting OF
onward. Christian Soldiers" and one
Is tempted 70 say the best, is that by
the late Sir Arthur Sullivan This once
greatly loved composer did not enter
musical life with the idea of the thea
ter He had aimed, being a serious mu-
sician and student under Moscheles,
Hauptmann and Richter at the Leipsic
Conservatory. al classical honors. For
q time he persisted IN com posing music
Of an elevated character; overtures and
string quartets. 4 vfoIonceHo concerJos
oratoriOs. cantauas (-fThe Light OF the
World" The Golden Legendyl. a sym
phony, Te- Deum-these were the Of
spring of his industry He was con-
ductor Of renown a professor OF a great
musical college IN organist. 4 pianist,
a Chevalier Of the Legion Of Honor. and
finally he was knighted. Yet. Sir Ar
thur Sullivan may be remembered as
the composer Of -Pinafore. The Mi
kado, The Pirates OF Penzance" and
Patience He wrote these operettas
for money and never put them in the
same class as his more elaborate COM
positions. but they made him famous
And the little hymn dashed of with all
the facility Of the born irproy isatore
has outstayed the popularity Of the ope-
rettas- Il viii be sung as long as
what Matthew Arnold calls morality
touched by emotion prevails The Sui
Hvan setting. which IS sung trausposed
in q half dozen major keys, may be
found in all the hymnologfes
Curiously enough the opening of this
hymn has a Mozartian ring Quicken
the tempo and the resemblance may be
perceived The refrain. with its splen-
did assertive march-like ring will II
accelerated, be found 70 bear not a
remote resemblance to an air in Pa
tience" The Magnet and the Churn'
There are other settings. richer in
harmonization, perhaps more dignified,
but none SO happy IN the welding Of
song and sentiment Chiefly employed
as processiouaIs-the fourth stanza is
usually omitted-the versions OF H r
Fuller and J. W. Darlington may be
found IN the Hutehins HymnaL The
Barring gton is in the key Of fat It
is marked slower than SuIlivans and it
is not 50 stirring FuIler's, with its
scalelike progression in eighth notes in
the refrain, gives the sense OF striving
against the foe But again il lacks the
primal simplicity Of Sullivan P. A
Schneider has contrived a quartet,
more stately and harmonized with a
fuller effect, while another composer.
Fl c. AIacDougaIL conceives the words
IN more heroic vein. AIIotting 10
bass solo the verse, and in the rather
gloomy key OF 9 minor, the refrain Is
sung by quartet It Is distinctiveIy
effective, though il VIII never supplant
Sullivan
And we are no nearer to q solution
OF the problem posed at the outset OF
vaster import il both a musical and a
poetic sense IS Elm Feste Burg ist un-
ser Gott,' for Luther wrote the German
hymn Cafter the Psalm XVI Deus
Noster Refugiuu''(. and Johann Sebas-
ton Bach set IL TO immortal tones in
his cantata ethe opening IS a fugue
based upon a variation on Luther's
melody and set 10 the first verse of the
hymn. This hymn thunders at the
very gate OF heaven in its magnificent
affirmation Of belief But one doubts If
Il Is oftener on the lips OF the people
than the little professional hurriedly
penned By = fervent cuTate- The verse
OF Onward Christian Soldiers" is not
great poetry-not the poetry that lies
imprisoned in Newmanfs Lead Kindly
Light Yer It gets under the skin OF
the plain people II is rhythmic It is
II is replete with the ardor Of battles.
And words and music combined make
for Righteousness" as do few compost
ions OF sacred character. Since Hem
rich Heiue wrote Of the fictitious quar-
rel which Christianity has cooked up
between the body and the SOUL there
has been noticeable and IameutabIe
falling of IN the imag agination that Is
ouched by the finer issues Of faith We
10 longer lave with US Lacordaires. or
Sebles. or Newmans; dogma has become
slffused by more material images, and
% speak 70 the hearts of the masses ,
symbols must be used that deal directly
With life around u.s. Onward. Chris
ian Soldiers is Earlike in its symbols
This Is fitting. The fight is never end
ng The most paradoxicaf thing about {
he hymn is that its words were penned {
" an Episcopal clergyman of the Eng
ish race. its music composed by a man
n whose veins some blood of Israel
The conjunction is of good (
'men- Perhaps the comminglfng Of two
aces rich IN ethical tradition has con-
rfbuted to the lasting fame Of On {
ward, Christian Soldiers"