This sheet music is part of the collection of crosby3145 :
The name Fanny Crosby
remains famous today—so
famous, even the non-musical
among us have often heard of
her. This is because she
wrote such stirring lyrics of
praise to God, in spite of the
fact that she was blind.
Crosby wouldn’t still be
remembered today if her hymns
weren’t special, but her
words are only half of the
story. Behind every Crosby
hymn lies a tune that,
ninety-nine percent of the
time, somebody other than
Crosby wrote. She worked with
several different composers
during her life, but one of
the most common was John
Robson Sweney.
He was born the last day of
the year, 1837, in West
Chester, Pennsylvania, a
musical prodigy who was
teaching music at school
before he’d even finished
school himself! At nineteen
or twenty, he received more
formal instruction from a
German teacher—it wasn’t
at all uncommon in those days
for the best musicians in
America to study with someone
from Europe, where musical
training was more established.
Sweney moved to Dover at
twenty-two, and when the Civil
War broke out, he served the
Union by conducting the Third
Delaware Regiment. When the
war was over, he took a
position teaching music at the
Pennsylvania Military Academy,
where he would teach the next
several years. He also led
choirs and a cornet band which
became notable in that part of
the state.
Meanwhile, Sweney was already
showing the ability to
compose, having written
several piano pieces in the
1860s. He began writing hymns
at a church in Chester, PA, in
1871, and was soon being
called on to lead music for
the congregations of
evangelists. He did this at
several places around the
United States—Ocean Grove,
New Jersey; Lake Bluff,
Illinois; New Albany, Indiana;
Old Orchard, Maine; Round
Lake, New York, and other
places. “Sweney knows how
to make a congregation sing”
was the frequent testimony to
his skill. Later, he led
music at Bethany Presbyterian
Church, a large, well-known
church in Philadelphia.
Altogether, Sweney would write
over 1,000 hymn tunes in his
life, publishing them in books
with titles like “Gems of
Praise,” “The Ark of the
Praise,” “Joy to the
World,” and others. On
April 10, 1899, he died
peacefully at the age of 61,
having left behind a long
legacy of hymns.
Sweney didn’t always
collaborate with Crosby on
hymns, but when he did, the
results were often
memorable—he wrote the music
for “Tell Me the Story of
Jesus” and “My Savior
First of All,” among others.
“Beulah Land,” a setting
of words by Edgar Page Stites,
has been translated into many
different languages and was
considered one of his best
known in 1907—it is still
often included in hymnals
today. The hymns represent a
wide range of styles—they
can be found in such different
meters as 4/4, 9/8, or
6/8—but they all have
memorable tunes that do a
great job supporting the
words. It’s safe to say
that he succeeded in getting a
congregation to sing partly
through writing such excellent
tunes. I hope these
compositions by him prove a
blessing to you and your
church!
Note: For Tell Me the Story of
Jesus and Victory through
Grace See Praise Him! Praise
Him! and Nine Other Hymns by
Fanny J. Crosby