Light Upon The River

Light Upon The River
By Christopher Idle
St. Matthias Press. 328 pages. £12.99
ISBN 1 873166 72 9

The story is told that the wife of Oscar Hammerstein II, the well-known lyricist, once overhead Mrs. Jerome Kern being congratulated on Kern's composition of 'Ol' Man River'. Mrs Hammerstein immediately interjected: 'He did not write 'Old Man River', he wrote 'Dum Dum Deda'.'
This is a story much loved by lyricists, who as a breed feel undervalued, and was related by Timothy Dudley-Smith at the launch in September of the collected hymn texts of Christopher Idle, a collection to which TDS has written a foreword.

Birthday boy

The venue was All Souls, Langham Place, and this lunchtime book launch was a special personal occasion since it coincided with Mr. Idle's 60th birthday. Apart from a personal tribute from the senior hymn-writer to the junior, the birthday boy himself spoke with youthful enthusiasm and genuine gratitude to his family, friends and former congregations from south-east London and Suffolk. Many of these people were themselves present to honour this humble servant of God. Along with 'Happy Birthday to you', two samples from the new collection were sung with gusto, accompanied by Noel Tredinick on the piano.
Light upon the River is some collection: 279 hymn texts arranged mainly in a biblical sequence, with a large separate section of hymns based on psalms. Some of the hymns will already be familiar to discerning congregations, for example: 'He stood before the court', 'Come and see the shining hope', 'Spirit of holiness'. But there are so many others which deserve to be in regular Sunday use.
These hymns are both doctrinal and devotional, enlightening and challenging the reader/singer with contemporary language, theological precision and a pastor's insight into familiar and less familiar texts or stories. As far as I am aware, there are not many hymns about Elijah, about Elisha, about the apostle Paul's conversion or on Hebrews 11. This is a treasure chest, packed with gems on these and dozens of other subjects, with careful paraphrase of Scripture.
A pleasing characteristic is the many memorable first lines, e.g. 'When prison walls extend their reach'; 'God of hope and Lord of healing'; 'Here from all nations'. The progression of thought through each hymn is refreshing. To quote TDS from the foreword: 'You will not find in this collection what the author has boldly called 'drivel'.'

Betjeman eat your heart out

All the hymns have footnotes on the when, why and where of their creation, as well as Scripture references, and including a very useful and thorough Scripture index at the back of the book. Some of the hymns are simple, written to be sung by children; some are quirky, like the reworking of 'Green grow the rushes O', replacing the lily white boys and April rainers with more suitable words; some have interesting tune recommendations - I don't think 'Mull of Kintyre' has yet made it into Christian Hymns. There are also some tuneless texts to challenge budding composers.
The last section of the book is devoted to pieces written for particular occasions and congregations, including the excellent 'As the Light upon the River', from which the book takes its title. This hymn must surely become a classic. But there are others in this section which are truly delightful with more than a touch of John Betjeman about them. For example, this part of a piece written for Christ Church, Old Kent Road, London SE15:

'While road and railway thunder on
and stores and shows have come and gone,
the church of Christ still points on high
to show what money cannot buy.

And many live, and buy and sell,
From Peckham through to Camberwell:
and some receive the gift unpriced;
they hear God's Word and turn to Christ.'

These verses and others forge links between gospel work, Christian living and late 20th-century Britain. The reader smells the wet pavements and is led to see the commuters as once Christ looked at the crowds around him and saw their true needs. This book is great for just reading or as an aid to private devotions, apart from its value to those who lead services of public worship. What comes over most is the author's heart for God, as the One in whose company he thinks all his thoughts and whose glory is his overriding concern.

'The song is unfinished:
how shall we complete it,
And where find the skill
to perfect all God's praise?
At work in all places,
he cares for all peoples -
how great is the Lord
to the end of all days!'

This is a fine investment. Go and buy it.

Hymn texts

Birthday boy

Betjeman eat your heart out

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