All Things Bright and Beautiful
Encyclopedia
All Things Bright and Beautiful is an Anglican hymn
, also popular with other Christian denominations.
The piece can be sung to several melodies, in particular the 17th-century English melody "Royal Oak", adapted by Martin Shaw
, and "Bright and Beautiful" by William Henry Monk
(1823–1889). There have also been other adaptations, such as a full choral piece by John Rutter
.
, Monmouthshire which sits in the beautiful valley of the river Usk and Minehead
in 1848 by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander
(from Dublin, Ireland) in the village of Dunster
, and may have been inspired by a verse from S. T. Coleridge
's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner -
"He prayeth best, who loveth best; All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us; He made and loveth all."
Alternatively, inspiration may have come from William Paley
's Natural Theology published in 1802 which sets out his argument for God as the designer of the Natural World. For example verse 2 makes reference to wings and verse 7 refers to eyes. Wings and eyes were two major examples of complexity of design that Paley used to support his famous analogy with a watch and God as the Divine Watchmaker.
The hymn was first published in Alexander's Hymns for Little Children.
It forms a series of poems expanding on articles of the Apostles' Creed
.
Cecil Francis Alexander wrote her "All things Bright and Beautiful" whilst staying at the Govilon manor house and inspired by her surroundings. The refrain "The purple headed mountains, The river running by," referring to the Sugar Loaf and Blorenge mountains and the River Usk.
The purple headed mountain refers to Grabbist Hill at Dunster
and the river to the River Avill
.
In more modern times, due to its endorsement of the class system, verse three is mostly omitted.
The United Church of Canada includes a fourth verse, which seems particularly appropriate to Canadian geography:
"The rocky mountain splendour, / the lone wolf's haunting call, / the great lakes and the prairies, / the forest in the fall.
's book All Creatures Great and Small, which subsequently became the title of the film and television series. Later Herriot used the rest of the lines of the refrain for the books that followed: "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "All Things Wise and Wonderful," and "The Lord God Made Them All."
In the 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes
, a congregation of mutated humans sing a hymn adapted from All Things Bright and Beautiful. Script-writer Paul Dehn
specifically wanted his new lyrics to be used not as a parody, but to emphasise that the mutants genuinely regarded themselves as beautiful.
The hymn was parodied by The Goodies
on their 1978 The Goodies Beastly Record as "I'm a Carnivore". They had previously recorded a cover of it on their 1973 The Goodies Sing Songs from The Goodies and an earlier version was heard on the BBC Radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, of whose cast all three Goodies were part, in 1966.
It was also parodied by the Monty Python
song "All Things Dull and Ugly", included on their 1980 album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album
and on the 1989 collection Monty Python Sings
.
It was also recently announced through Twitter
that the title of the poem will be used as the title for third studio album by the Synthpop
act Owl City
.
http://history.govilon.com/trail/green/
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
, also popular with other Christian denominations.
The piece can be sung to several melodies, in particular the 17th-century English melody "Royal Oak", adapted by Martin Shaw
Martin Shaw (composer)
Martin Edward Fallas Shaw OBE, FRCM, DMus was an English composer, conductor and theatre producer...
, and "Bright and Beautiful" by William Henry Monk
William Henry Monk
Probably better known in his day as an organist, church musician, and music editor, William Henry Monk composed a fair number of popular hymn tunes, including one of the most famous from nineteenth century England, "Eventide", used for the hymn Abide with Me...
(1823–1889). There have also been other adaptations, such as a full choral piece by John Rutter
John Rutter
John Milford Rutter CBE is a British composer, conductor, editor, arranger and record producer, mainly of choral music.-Biography:Born in London, Rutter was educated at Highgate School, where a fellow pupil was John Tavener. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the...
.
History
The text has been claimed to have been written at two locations, both GovilonGovilon
Govilon is a small Welsh village located between Llanfoist and Gilwern near Abergavenny in north Monmouthshire.- Attractions :The Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal passes through the village and . The village has views overlooking the valley of the River Usk and up to the heights of the southern...
, Monmouthshire which sits in the beautiful valley of the river Usk and Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
in 1848 by Mrs. Cecil F. Alexander
Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander
Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander , was a hymn-writer and poet.She was born in Dublin, the daughter of Major John Humphreys and Elizabeth . She began writing verse in her childhood...
(from Dublin, Ireland) in the village of Dunster
Dunster
Dunster is a village and civil parish in west Somerset, England, situated on the Bristol Channel coast south-southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. The village has a population of 862 .The village has numerous restaurants and three pubs...
, and may have been inspired by a verse from S. T. Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner -
"He prayeth best, who loveth best; All things great and small; For the dear God who loveth us; He made and loveth all."
Alternatively, inspiration may have come from William Paley
William Paley
William Paley was a British Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work Natural Theology, which made use of the watchmaker analogy .-Life:Paley was Born in Peterborough, England, and was...
's Natural Theology published in 1802 which sets out his argument for God as the designer of the Natural World. For example verse 2 makes reference to wings and verse 7 refers to eyes. Wings and eyes were two major examples of complexity of design that Paley used to support his famous analogy with a watch and God as the Divine Watchmaker.
The hymn was first published in Alexander's Hymns for Little Children.
It forms a series of poems expanding on articles of the Apostles' Creed
Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
.
Words
The words of the song are:- 1. All things bright and beautiful,
- All creatures great and small,
- All things wise and wonderful,
- The Lord God made them all.
- 2. Each little flower that opens,
- Each little bird that sings,
- He made their glowing colours,
- He made their tiny wings.
- All things bright ...
- 3. The rich man in his castle,
- The poor man at his gate,
- God made them high and lowly,
- And ordered their estate.
- All things bright ...
- 4. The purple headed mountain,
- The river running by,
- The sunset and the morning,
- That brightens up the sky;−
- All things bright ...
- 5. The cold wind in the winter,
- The pleasant summer sun,
- The ripe fruits in the garden,−
- He made them every one:
- All things bright ...
- 6. The tall trees in the greenwood,
- The meadows where we play,
- The rushes by the water,
- We gather every day;−
- All things bright ...
- 7. He gave us eyes to see them,
- And lips that we might tell,
- How great is God Almighty,
- Who has made all things well.
- All things bright ...
Cecil Francis Alexander wrote her "All things Bright and Beautiful" whilst staying at the Govilon manor house and inspired by her surroundings. The refrain "The purple headed mountains, The river running by," referring to the Sugar Loaf and Blorenge mountains and the River Usk.
The purple headed mountain refers to Grabbist Hill at Dunster
Dunster
Dunster is a village and civil parish in west Somerset, England, situated on the Bristol Channel coast south-southeast of Minehead and northwest of Taunton. The village has a population of 862 .The village has numerous restaurants and three pubs...
and the river to the River Avill
River Avill
The River Avill is a small river on Exmoor in Somerset, England.It rises on the eastern slopes of Dunkery Beacon and flows north through Timberscombe and Dunster flowing into the Bristol Channel at Dunster Beach....
.
In more modern times, due to its endorsement of the class system, verse three is mostly omitted.
The United Church of Canada includes a fourth verse, which seems particularly appropriate to Canadian geography:
"The rocky mountain splendour, / the lone wolf's haunting call, / the great lakes and the prairies, / the forest in the fall.
Cultural references
The second line was used as the title to James HerriotJames Herriot
James Herriot was the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight , an English veterinary surgeon and writer, who used his many years of experiences as a veterinarian to write a series of books of stories about animals and their owners...
's book All Creatures Great and Small, which subsequently became the title of the film and television series. Later Herriot used the rest of the lines of the refrain for the books that followed: "All Things Bright and Beautiful", "All Things Wise and Wonderful," and "The Lord God Made Them All."
In the 1970 film Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
Beneath the Planet of the Apes is a 1970 American science fiction film directed by Ted Post and written by Paul Dehn. It is the second of five films in the original Planet of the Apes series produced by Arthur P. Jacobs...
, a congregation of mutated humans sing a hymn adapted from All Things Bright and Beautiful. Script-writer Paul Dehn
Paul Dehn
Paul Dehn was a British screenwriter.-Biography and work:Dehn was born in 1912 in Manchester, England. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, and attended Brasenose College, Oxford...
specifically wanted his new lyrics to be used not as a parody, but to emphasise that the mutants genuinely regarded themselves as beautiful.
The hymn was parodied by The Goodies
The Goodies
The Goodies are a trio of British comedians who created, wrote, and starred in a surreal British television comedy series called The Goodies during the 1970s and early 1980s combining sketches and situation comedy.-Honours:All three Goodies now have OBEs...
on their 1978 The Goodies Beastly Record as "I'm a Carnivore". They had previously recorded a cover of it on their 1973 The Goodies Sing Songs from The Goodies and an earlier version was heard on the BBC Radio show I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again, of whose cast all three Goodies were part, in 1966.
It was also parodied by the Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
song "All Things Dull and Ugly", included on their 1980 album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album
Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album is an album released by Monty Python in 1980, a mixture of songs, new sketches and some rerecorded pre-Python work. As the title suggests, the album was put together to complete a contract with Charisma Records...
and on the 1989 collection Monty Python Sings
Monty Python Sings
Monty Python Sings is a comedy album of songs written by the Monty Python team.The song "Oliver Cromwell" was never released prior to this album...
.
It was also recently announced through Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
that the title of the poem will be used as the title for third studio album by the Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
act Owl City
Owl City
Owl City is an American electronica musical project by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Young formed in 2007 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Young created the project while experimenting with music in his parents' basement...
.
External links
http://history.govilon.com/trail/green/
- Words & music at the Cyber Hymnal
- The sheet music