Gateway Concert Band

This is a music spotlight for the second piece in our upcoming “The Adventure Never Ends” concerts. Weather permitting, both concerts will be performed on Monday, August 10th and on Monday, August 17th in Rotary Centennial Park, across the street from the Enumclaw Library, at approximately 1000 Griffin Ave. in Enumclaw. If it is too cool and/or wet, the concerts will be moved to the Community Auditorium at Enumclaw High School. There is no admission charge, but donations are gratefully accepted.

The second piece in the concert is entitled "On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss". It is an arrangement written by David Holsinger (see below) in 1989 of the popular hymn “It Is Well with My Soul” by Philip Bliss (see also below).

"On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss" is Holsinger's largest selling work and has been used in several televised memorial performances, including commemorative services for the Challenger astronauts, Ronald Reagan, and the fallen heroes of the American armed forces. It was written to honor Rev. Steve Edel, the retiring principal of Shady Grove Christian Academy, and was presented to him as a gift by the academy's concert band. Holsinger is well known across the nation as well as around the world for the frantic tempos and ebullient rhythms of most of his music. But this piece is a radical departure for Holsinger, with its restful and contemplative nature.

(There follows a pretty lengthy exposition on the hymn on which this arrangement is based. Please feel free to skim or skip through it as you wish.)

You’ve probably heard the famous story of Horatio Spafford writing “It Is Well with My Soul” following the death of his four daughters.

Horatio Spafford, a deeply religious man, was a successful lawyer and businessman in Chicago until 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed real estate located along the shores of Lake Michigan, which included just about all of Spafford’s investments. On the advice of a friend, the family decided to travel to England to assist a friend on an evangelistic tour. At the last minute, Mr. Spafford was detained for business, but his wife and their four daughters went ahead, to be joined by him later.
Sailing in a dense fog off the coast of Newfoundland, the ship bearing Mrs. Spafford and the four girls was struck by another ship and sank in twelve minutes. Two hundred and twenty-six lives were lost, including all four of Spafford’s daughters. After hours of floating in the turbulent waters, Mrs. Spafford was rescued. Arriving in Wales weeks later, she cabled her husband with the message, “Saved alone.” Receiving the horrifying news, Spafford left immediately to join his wife. He asked the captain of his ship on which he was sailing to notify him when they approached the place where his daughters had perished. Told that the area was near, Spafford went down to his cabin and penned the words of the hymn, as follows:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

[chorus]
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
[chorus]
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
[chorus]
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
[chorus]

Horatio and Anna returned to Chicago, and within a few months, Anna gave birth to Horatio II (who would die at four years old of scarlet fever in 1876). Two years later, the couple gave birth to Bertha, who would write that her parents not only suffered the pain of losing their fortune and five children, but it was compounded by a crisis of faith. They left their Presbyterian congregation and held faith-based prayer meetings in their own home. Their Messianic sect was dubbed "the Overcomers" by the American press. In 1881, Anna gave birth to a sixth daughter, appropriately named “Grace.” In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children and set up the American Colony. Colony members, later joined by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious affiliation and without proselytizing motives—thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities.

In Jerusalem Horatio and Anna Spafford adopted teenager Jacob Eliahu, later Jacob Spafford (1864–1932), born in Ramallah into a Turkish Jewish family.
Four days shy of his 60th birthday, Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem.

But that’s just the story of the words. The tune was written by Philip P. Bliss, which he entitled “Ville du Havre,” the name of the ship that took the lives of Spafford’s four daughters. The hymn was first sung by Bliss himself before a large gathering of ministers on November 24, 1876 (just a month before his tragic death, as related below).

Philip Bliss (1838 – 1876) was an American composer, conductor, writer of hymns and a bass-baritone Gospel singer. He wrote many well-known hymns, including Almost Persuaded; Hallelujah, What a Saviour!; Let the Lower Lights Be Burning; Wonderful Words of Life as well as the tune for It Is Well with My Soul.

His father was Isaac Bliss, a practicing Methodist minister, who taught the family to pray daily. Isaac loved music and encouraged Philip to develop his passion for singing.

At age 10, while selling vegetables to help support the family, Bliss first heard a piano. At age 11, he left home to make his own living. He worked in timber camps and sawmills. While working, he irregularly went to school to further his education.
At 17, Bliss finished his requirements to teach. The next year, in 1856, he became a schoolmaster at Hartsville, New York, and during the summer he worked on a farm.

In 1857, Bliss met J. G. Towner, who taught singing. Towner recognized Bliss’s talent and gave him his first formal voice training. He also met William B. Bradbury, who persuaded him to become a music teacher. In 1858, he accepted an appointment in Rome Academy, Pennsylvania.

After a couple of years, Bliss became an itinerant music teacher. On horseback, he went from community to community accompanied by a melodeon. Bliss’s wife’s grandmother lent Bliss $30 so he could attend the Normal Academy of Music of New York for six weeks. Bliss was now recognized as an expert within his local area. He continued the itinerant teaching.

At this time he turned to composition. None of his songs were ever copyrighted.

In 1864, the Blisses moved to Chicago. Bliss was then 26. He became known as a singer and teacher. He wrote a number of Gospel songs. Bliss was paid $100 for a concert tour which lasted only a fortnight. He was amazed so much money could be earned so quickly.

Following this, Bliss went on another concert tour, but this endeavor failed. He was, however, offered a position at Root and Cady Musical Publishers, at a salary of $150 per month. Bliss worked with this company from 1865 until 1873. He conducted musical conventions, singing schools and concerts for his employers. He continued to compose hymns, which were often printed in his employer’s books.
In 1869, Bliss formed an association with Dwight L. Moody (yes, the same Moody associated with the Spaffords). Moody and others urged him to give up his job and become a missionary singer. In 1874, Bliss decided he was called to the task of “winning souls”. He then became a full-time evangelist. Bliss made significant amounts of money from royalties and gave them to charity and to support his evangelical endeavors.

Just one month after premiering what he titled Ville du Havre, on December 29, 1876, Bliss and his wife were traveling to Chicago by train. As the train passed over a trestle near Ashtabula, Ohio, the bridge collapsed and the passenger coaches plunged 75 feet into the icy river. Philip was able to escape through a window, but his wife was pinned in the wreckage. As he went back to free his wife, a fire broke out through the wooden cars and both were burned beyond recognition.

Bliss’ house in Rome, Pennsylvania is now operated as the Philip P. Bliss Gospel Songwriters Museum.

About the arranger: Dr. David R. Holsinger (b. 1945) is an American composer and conductor writing primarily for concert band. Holsinger is a graduate of Hardin-Central High School in Hardin, Missouri, Central Methodist University, the University of Central Missouri, and the University of Kansas. In 1999, following 15 years of service as music minister, worship leader, and composer in residence to Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, he joined the School of Music faculty at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee, as Conductor of the Lee University Wind Ensemble. Holsinger’s duties include teaching advanced instrumental conducting and composition.

From our June 22nd Concert at Creator Lutheran, Excerpts from Gershwin by George!