One of my favourites too. I was introduced to it by a primary school teacher, Mr Smythe. He wanted it to be sung by a soloist in morning assembly. Nobody wanted to do it, so he asked me to read it out loud. The words have stuck with me ever since. It is a gospel in miniature. More than sixty years later, it still brings a tear to my eyes.
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art Thou my best thought, by day or by night Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one .....
Very well played and empathy pacing the use of the stops in relationship with the words. As an an accompanist myself I will reharmonise verses to reflect the words, reading on in advance. The best about this is that the first verse played articulates the tune and the thinking use of stops to reflect on the verses and opening the swell at the end with the parting message of the last verse to inspire. Well done and beautiful playing
Played brilliantly - one of your best yet ! What a lovely Hymn - thanks for sharing. How lucky are your Congregation to have you as their Organist ! Take care 🙂
Very peaceful and beautiful melody indeed. I never felt interested or attracted to hymns play by organs in my life, however, you sir play the organ with such a passion and joy that it is very joyful and contagious 😅 Thank you for sharing your art and the lovely ancient chapels in England. Merry Christmas from 🇺🇸
This hymn is as American as I am and I was born 15 miles from where it was written in the west country of Somerset England I pass the cleft of the cliff regularly on my way to Bristol airport
One of my favorite hymns too. I have not told you but I once visited St Martin’s in 1976. I was singing with a visiting choir at Salisbury Cathedral. My wife and I stopped in while strolling through Salisbury, a lovely town. Didn’t get to hear the organ though. My wife turned pages for Christopher Roots, our English hired organist while at Winchester, Salisbury, Ely, Tewksbury, and others.
1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart, be all else but naught to me, save that thou art; be thou my best thought in the day and the night, both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light. 2 Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word, be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord; be thou my great Father, and I thy true son; be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one. 3 Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight; be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might; be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower: O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power. 4 Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise: be thou mine inheritance now and always; be thou and thou only the first in my heart; O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art. 5 High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright Sun, O grant me its joys after victory is won; great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
I’m playing this hymn in the Boise Community Band in the key of E-Flat. We’re playing this hymn to honor a former trombone player who played in the band for a number of years because he recently passed away on Valentine’s Day from a stroke, and this was his favorite hymn. I play bass trombone in the Boise Community Band.
Lord of all Hopefulness is a later English hymn by Jan Struther. as the tune is an old Irish melody, it is more authentic to set it to Be thou my vision, as this is derived from an old Irish poem.
The hymn tune is Slane. It is used for "Be thou my vision" and "Lord of all Hopefulness." There is a reason Anglican/Episcopal organists all know the name of the hymn tunes as well as the hymn titles. And the tunes can be interchanged if the poetry of the words has the same meter. Did you know you can sing "What a friend we have in Jesus" to Ton-y-botel (Ebenezer)? It actually improves singing the words, I think.
Lovely instrument. Excellent playing: tempo, breathing (which comes to light when we can follow the text of the 5 verses), continued measure between verses, registration. Charles III does not heed riches?
One of my favourites too. I was introduced to it by a primary school teacher, Mr Smythe. He wanted it to be sung by a soloist in morning assembly. Nobody wanted to do it, so he asked me to read it out loud. The words have stuck with me ever since. It is a gospel in miniature. More than sixty years later, it still brings a tear to my eyes.
Just fantastic. The arrangement, your expertise, your pace. Perfect.
The soul you impart into music is impeccable. You have been truly blessed by God
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light
Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one .....
Just heavenly on earth...sweet to the ears and soul...
I appreciate the small scale of the churches and intimate style of your work.
Haha that trombone on the pedals is something else!
Thank you for sharing the hymns of Praise with the You Tube world.
Very well played and empathy pacing the use of the stops in relationship with the words.
As an an accompanist myself I will reharmonise verses to reflect the words, reading on in advance. The best about this is that the first verse played articulates the tune and the thinking use of stops to reflect on the verses and opening the swell at the end with the parting message of the last verse to inspire. Well done and beautiful playing
Wonderful- thank you and keep it up- we love the old churches in England and your talent at the organs!
Many thanks Ben - one of my favourites too.
so beautiful , thanks Ben.
Played brilliantly - one of your best yet ! What a lovely Hymn - thanks for sharing. How lucky are your Congregation to have you as their Organist ! Take care 🙂
Very peaceful and beautiful melody indeed. I never felt interested or attracted to hymns play by organs in my life, however, you sir play the organ with such a passion and joy that it is very joyful and contagious 😅 Thank you for sharing your art and the lovely ancient chapels in England. Merry Christmas from 🇺🇸
Great rendition of “Slane”. Overtones of “Lord of all hopefulness “ perhaps….
Same hymn tune for both.
Fantastic! Way too many organists make it a very choppy hymn instead of smooth and flowing.
They tend to make it a march which it is not. I agree his performance of this hymn is refreshing and phrased so perfectly.
This hymn is as American as I am and I was born 15 miles from where it was written in the west country of Somerset England I pass the cleft of the cliff regularly on my way to Bristol airport
Just so beautiful God bless xxx
❤ The last verse was very moving.
One of my favorite hymns too. I have not told you but I once visited St Martin’s in 1976. I was singing with a visiting choir at Salisbury Cathedral. My wife and I stopped in while strolling through Salisbury, a lovely town. Didn’t get to hear the organ though. My wife turned pages for Christopher Roots, our English hired organist while at Winchester, Salisbury, Ely, Tewksbury, and others.
Excellent. Thank you Ben.
One of my favorite hymns. Thank you!
Seamless..live Ben's style...
Well played!!!
1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.
2 Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord;
be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
3 Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;
be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.
4 Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
be thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.
5 High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright Sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.
One of my favorite hymn tunes also. Here in USA is the setting for the hymn-poem "Be Thou my vision". Beautifully played!
I can feel the tears already flowing. Beautifully done.
One of my favourites too, although it doesn't beat Crown Him With Many Crowns, in my humble opinion 😁
My favourite.
Very nice!
Thanks out of Holland. Always very nice videos!
Lord of Hopefulness/be thou my vision
I’m playing this hymn in the Boise Community Band in the key of E-Flat. We’re playing this hymn to honor a former trombone player who played in the band for a number of years because he recently passed away on Valentine’s Day from a stroke, and this was his favorite hymn. I play bass trombone in the Boise Community Band.
I was wondering when you were going to play Slane (hymn tune name - it has multiple sets of words). It was my mother's favorite also.
Fantastic flow!
Well played Ben. This hymn is actually “Lord of all Hopefulness.”
Lord of all Hopefulness is a later English hymn by Jan Struther. as the tune is an old Irish melody, it is more authentic to set it to Be thou my vision, as this is derived from an old Irish poem.
The hymn tune is Slane. It is used for "Be thou my vision" and "Lord of all Hopefulness."
There is a reason Anglican/Episcopal organists all know the name of the hymn tunes as well as the hymn titles. And the tunes can be interchanged if the poetry of the words has the same meter.
Did you know you can sing "What a friend we have in Jesus" to Ton-y-botel (Ebenezer)? It actually improves singing the words, I think.
just ordered your CD
Lovely instrument.
Excellent playing: tempo, breathing (which comes to light when we can follow the text of the 5 verses), continued measure between verses, registration.
Charles III does not heed riches?
Look at Charles's crest, very telling if you read Revelation.
Thank you
Thanks!
My fave too. 😊
I alway associate this hymn with Ireland
I believe its an irish hymn
No wonder, Slane refers to the hill where St. Patrick burned his flame to oppose the Druids and the lyrics were also homage to St. Patrick.
What is the upper manual mirroring when it plays itself?
From what I can see in how Ben uses this organ, the swell (upper) manual is coupled to the great manual and the pedal board.
Tune "Slane"
are you on sportify?