Robert Lowry

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Ministry

Lowry began his ministry in 1854, at the First Baptist church in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He remained there until 1858, when he moved to the pastorate of the Bloomingdale Baptist church, in New York. After two years there he moved to Brooklyn, where he transferred his ministry to the Hanson Place Baptist church in 1861.

Although he considered preaching as his principal vocation, Lowry continued to write hymns and compose music. In 1864, while at Hanson Place, he wrote and composed what became perhaps his best-known hymn, "Shall We Gather at the River". He wrote this during a heatwave which accompanied an epidemic in the city which claimed many lives. Almost overcome by the heat, he suddenly envisaged the passage in the Book of Revelation, chapter 22: "And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb". Despite its popularity, Lowry did not regard the hymn highly: "It is brass band music, has a march movement, and for that reason has become popular, though for myself I do not think much of it." Also while at Hanson Place, in 1867, Lowry composed the tune to Isaac Watts's hymn "Marching to Zion". He had produced his first hymn anthology, Happy Voices (in which "Shall We Gather" first appeared) in 1865, and followed this in 1868 with Gospel Melodies.

In 1868, the New York music publishers Biglow & Main, who had taken over the hymn publishing activities of William Batchelder Bradbury, who had died, approached Lowry with the proposal that he step into Bradbury's role as hymnals editor. Initially Lowry was opposed to the idea, afraid that it might affect his pastoral and preaching work, but was persuaded. During the following 30 years, often in conjunction with hymnwriters such as W. H. Doane and Ira D. Sankey, Lowry oversaw the production of more than 20 hymnals.

After eight years at Hanson Place, in 1869 Lowry was persuaded by Dr. Loomis, president of the University at Lewisburg, to return to the town in the dual capacity of Professor of Rhetoric at the university and pastor of the new Lewisburg Baptist church. He lived at the southern end of University Avenue, the building now known as Robert Lowry House. The church was dedicated in June 1870; Lowry's skillful oratory was instrumental in persuading the congregation, by no means a prosperous group, to subscribe $10,000 towards meeting the church's construction debt. Amid his various duties, Lowry continued to write hymns and compose tunes to existing words. In 1872 he wrote the tune to Annie S. Hawks's hymn "I Need Thee Every Hour", and in 1874 wrote the words and music for "Christ Arose!" ("Low In The Grave He Lay").

In 1875 Lowry was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) by Lewisburg. In that year he decided to relinquish his professorship, and take up the pastorate at the Park Avenue Church in Plainfield, New Jersey. On leaving Lewisburg, Lowry accepted the honorary position of chancellor of the university. Also in 1875 he provided the music to Fanny Crosby's hymn "All the Way My Savior Leads Me", one of many co-operations with the prolific Crosby. In 1876 he wrote and composed another of his best-known works: "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus".

Hymn writer

Lowry is credited with the writing of more than 500 hymn tunes, often supplying the text as well as the music – one of the earliest hymnwriters to do so. His first hymn, "When the Morning Light", was written in 1847 when he was 21 years old. His love of music dated from his childhood, when he would play any musical instrument that came to hand, and his melodies were strongly influenced by the popular music of the time. Thus, Lowry characterized "Shall We Gather" as brass band music, but he would adopt a more conventional hymn tone for reflective pieces such as "I Need Thee Every Hour" and "Savior, Thy Dying Love". In a number of cases when setting the words of others he would add a chorus or refrain. He had an ear for dramatic effect, exemplified in the contrast, in "Low In The Grave He Lay", between the solemn verses and the exultant chorus proclaiming the Resurrection.

In later life, while remaining self-taught, Lowry adopted a more formal approach towards his music. According to his biographer Henry S Burrage: "When he saw that the obligations of musical editorship were laid upon him, he began the study of music in earnest, and sought the best musical text-books and works on the highest forms of musical composition".

When asked to explain his methods of composition, in particular whether in his own hymns words or music came first, Lowry replied:

"I have no method. Sometimes the music comes and the words follow, fitted insensibly to the melody. I watch my moods, and when anything good strikes me, whether words or music, and no matter where I am, at home or on the street, I jot it down. Often the margin of a newspaper or the back of an envelope serves as a notebook. My brain is a sort of spinning machine, I think, for there is music running through it all the time. I do not pick out my music on the keys of an instrument. The tunes of nearly all the hymns I have written have been completed on paper before I tried them on the organ. Frequently the words of the hymn and the music have been written at the same time."

A list of the published hymn collections for which Lowry was solely or jointly responsible is as follows. Many of these collections were very popular; Pure Gold, published in 1871, sold more than a million copies.

1865 Happy Voices

1868 Gospel Melodies

1868 Chapel Melodies (with Silas Vail) Biglow & Main

1869 Bright Jewels Biglow & Main

1871 Pure Gold (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1871, 1872, 1873 Hymn Service

1873 Royal Diadem (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1873 Temple Anthems

1874 Tidal Wave

1875 Brightest and Best (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1877 Gospel Music Biglow & Main

1877 Welcome Tidings (with W. H. Doane and Ira D. Sankey) Biglow & Main

1878 Chautauqua Carols

1879 Gospel Hymn and Tune Book (with W. H. Doane)

1879 Hymn Service for the Sunday School (with W. H. Doane and others) Biglow & Main

1880 Good as Gold (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1880 Hymn Service No.2 (with W. H. Doane and John Vincent) Biglow & Main

1881–1886 Cantatas for Christmas

1882 Our Glad Hosanna (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1882–1887 Cantatas for Easter

1884 Joyful Lays (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1886 The Glad Refrain (with W. H. Doane) Biglow & Main

1889 Select Gems (with W. H. Doane) American Baptist Publication Society

1889 The Bright Array (with W. H. Doane)

1898 Royal Hymnal (with Ira D. Sankey) Biglow & Main

Robert Lowry

Robert Lowry

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