Happy All Saints Day, and Thanks, Ralph Vaughan Williams

Those who know the music of the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams know that he drew inspiration from both English folk music and the hymns common to the Anglican Church.

Following a long tradition of classical composers, he even wrote some hymn tunes himself. Since today is All Saints Day, I thought about the great hymn, “For All the Saints.” The words were written in the 1860s by Anglican Bishop William Walsham How.

He wrote the hymn as a processional, and Bishop How must have had a very big church, because there are no less than 11 stanzas to the hymn. To read more, click here.