Hark, hark, my soul; Angelic songs are swelling. F. W. Faber. [Evening.] Published in his Oratory Hymns, 1854, and again in his Hymns, 1862, p. 385, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "The Pilgrims of the Night." Five stanzas in an altered form were given in the Appendix to Hymns Ancient & Modern, 1868, No. 325. By this means the hymn was brought prominently before the public, and became exceedingly popular for a time. Its unreality, however, was excluded it from many of the best modern collections. In the Book of Prayer & Praise for use in Sir Jonah Mason's Orphanage, Erdington, 1883, No. 293, beginning, "Hark, hark, my soul, thy Father's voice is calling," is an imitation of this hymn. It is also in Allon's Children's Worship, 1878, No. 234.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
Raised in the Church of England, Frederick W. Faber (b. Calverly, Yorkshire, England, 1814; d. Kensington, London, England, 1863) came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839. Influenced by the teaching of John Henry Newman, Faber followed Newman into the Roman Catholic Church in 1845 and served under Newman's supervision in the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowpe, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. One of his best known, "Faith of Our Fathers," originally had these words in its third stanza: "Faith of Our Fathers! Mary'… Go to person page >
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