Sunday, August 8, 2021

What a Friend We Have in Jesus


We just learned about the hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Another famous Hymn is What a Friend We Have in Jesus written by Joseph Scriven in 1855, with the music written in 1868 by Charles Crozat Converse.

Scriven was born in Ireland in 1819, and when he was 25 years old he moved to Canada.
His mother stayed back home and got very sick, so he wrote her a poem called "Pray Without Ceasing".

Converse was born in Massachusetts in 1832, and wrote many church songs.
He read Scriven's poem and came up with the musical tune for the hymn and renamed it What a Friend We Have in Jesus.
A lot of famous musicians like Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and Aretha Franklin all made recordings of themselves with this hymn.
It has also been translated into other languages, like "Itsukushimi Fukaki" in Japanese, "Yesus Kawan yang Sejati" in Indonesian, and "Yeshu kaisa dost pyara" in Hindi.


(from: wikipedia - what a friend we have in jesus)


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