James Montgomery was the son of a Moravian minister and for 31 years edited the Sheffield Iris. In April, 1822 he was speaking in Liverpool at a Methodist missionary meeting but as he spoke, the lights suddenly went out in the building. Then there was a loud crash as the back of a seat was broken in the darkness. For a moment it seemed that mass panic might ensue. But then the chairman of the meeting called out, “There is still light within,” and Montgomery resumed speaking. The crowd calmed down, listening in the darkness. Montgomery concluded his words by reciting his newly written hymn, “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”. After he died a statue was erected to his memory in the Sheffield General Cemetery, and a stained glass window in the Parish Church. He is also commemorated by a Grade II-listed drinking fountain on Broad Lane.
There is an interesting discussion about why verse 5 (“Arabia’s desert ranger to him shall bow the knee; the Ethiopian stranger His glory come to see”) is often omitted in Cathy Rowett’s blog Bad things in new hymn books and other sad tales.
The organ part of the sound track demo is different from the printed music. In order to get what is played on the soundtrack simply play only notes that fall on the crotchet beat in each bar except in bars 11 & 13 which should be played in full. The other tricky bits are for my tricky organist friends.
Acknowledgement: Organ used is the Sample Set of the Willis Organ Hereford Cathedral, produced by David Butcher of Lavender Audio.
