Louis Fitzgerald Benson (1855–1930) was a lawyer-turned-pastor who lived most of his life in Philadelphia. He was also something of a musical historian and an expert in hymnology, charged with editing hymnals for the Presbyterian Church of the USA. Benson even wrote a number of hymns, some of which came into fairly regular use in the United States.
As part of his work in hymnology, Benson wrote multiple treatises on “The Best Hymns.” He also tracked songs across scores of hymnals.
In 1899, he assembled a list of the most common hymns. Specifically, in the 107 hymnals he examined, he tracked how many of them contained repeated songs. While a song’s presence in many hymnals doesn’t necessarily speak to the excellence of the song, it demonstrates its overall popularity.
According to Benson’s research, here are the 14 hymns that appeared in at least 100 of the 107 hymnals, in order of prominence.
Rock of Ages- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- Jesus, Lover of My Soul
- All Praise to Thee, My God, This Night
- Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
- Sun of My Soul
- Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun
- Hark! the Herald Angels Sing
- Abide with Me
- Jerusalem, My Happy Home
- How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
- Nearer, My God, to Thee
- From Greenland’s Icy Mountains
- O God, Our Help in Ages Past
Two things strike me in this list.
First, I’m struck by the reality that so many of these songs are still sung widely. “Rock of Ages,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” are all still relatively popular—at least in the sense of being well-known.
Perhaps thanks to contemporary updates (from the likes of Indelible Grace), others like “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” and “Abide with Me” are actually among my favorite songs for worship.
So I’m fascinated and grateful that at least a good number of these hymns have incredible staying power—presumably because of the truth they point to and the God they praise, in addition to their musical merit.
The second thing that strikes me is the few songs that I have, I believe, never even heard of. As far as I know, I’m not familiar with “Sun of My Soul” and certainly not with “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains” (what an intriguing name!).
This anonymity wouldn’t shock me, except for the fact that so many of the others seem like enduring classics.
In any case, it’s a thought-provoking and perhaps nostalgic list. I very much hope the deluge of new worship music in the last few decades—much of which I love and cherish—doesn’t erase these great hymns from our musical vocabulary.
From Greenland’s Icy Mountains, is still a fairly well-known missionary hymn. If you listen to it, it might sound vaguely familiar to you, Griffin! Interesting list of hymns from the 19th century. I guess I’m being picky, but I find even more depth in the hymns from the 18th century.
I got around to listening to “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” and yes, the tune sounded somewhat familiar–though the lyrics seemed new to me. It turns out the author was a British man who eventually became Bishop of Calcutta. How cool! He also wrote dozens of hymns, including “Holy, Holy, Holy”! So many good ones to choose from, especially from the Golden Age of hymn-writing! Favorites?