Hymn to Christ the Saviour’

MUSICAL SETTINGS OF CLEMENT’S ‘HYMN TO CHRIST THE SAVIOUR’ Jane Schatkin Hettrick Clement’s ‘Hymn to Christ the Saviour,’ appended to manuscripts of his book Paedagogus (The Tutor) is considered to be the most ancient hymn (text) of the Christian church. It entered the mainstream of Christian hym- nody within the Oxford Movement1 in the mid-nineteenth century, when it was translated into English in 1846 by the American Congregationalist pastor Henry Martyn Dexter (1821–1890).2 Dexter translated Clement’s hymn for a sermon he was writing on “some prominent characteristics of the early Christians,” based on the text Deuteronomy 32:7 (“Remember the days of old …”). After making a literal translation, he prepared a poetic version for his congregation to sing.3 Known by the rst line of this poetic translation as ‘Shepherd of Tender Youth,’ Clement’s ‘Hymn to Christ the Saviour’ has appeared in dozens of English-language hymnals and has received numer- ous musical settings by diferent composers.4 1 The Oxford Movement, which started in 1833 within the Church of England, sought to recover ‘ancient’ (pre-Reformation) traditions of music and liturgy. This antiquarian industry brought back plainchant and translated many Latin hymns, some of which became standard to hymnals of most denominations (e.g., ‘Veni Immanuel’). Erik Routley, The Music of Christian Hymns (Chicago: G.I.A. Publications, 1981), 89f. 2 Henry Martyn Dexter, pastor of churches in Manchester (New Hampshire) and Boston, is the author of several books about Congregationalism, including Congregationalism, What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Is Better than any Other Form of Church Government (1865) and A Handbook of Congregationalism (1880). He also wrote a number of historical studies, most dealing with early American topics, e.g., As To Roger Williams and His Banishment from the Massachussetts Colony (1876). The founder of the Congregationalist Quarterly (1858), he was editor of the Congregationalist and Recorder. Bernhard Pick, Hymns and Poetry of the Eastern Church (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1908), 10. 3 Dexter’s translation was rst published in an issue of The Congregationalist, 21 Dec. 1849. His literal translation is given in Louis Fitzgerald Benson, Studies of Familiar Hymns (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1903), 250f. 4 ‘Shepherd of Tender Youth’ has been considered a prototype for the general category of ‘shepherd’ hymns that are found in almost all hymnals, many being poetic versions of or loosely based on Psalm 23. Samuel Willoughby Du eld, English Hymns: Their Authors and History (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1886), 479. 324 jane schatkin hettrick Because of the obscurity of the original language—both the distance of hundreds of years and the idiosyncratic writing of the Greek author—the English version at best approximates the content of Clement’s poetry.5 The degree of freedom becomes clear if we consider Dexter’s ve-verse, thirty- ve line translation (given here) with more literal renderings of the Greek.6 (1) Shepherd of tender youth, Guiding in love and truth Through devious ways; Christ, our triumphant King, We come thy name to sing Hither our children bring To shout our praise. (2) Thou art our holy Lord, The all-subduing Word, Healer of strife; Thou didst thyself abase, That from sin’s deep disgrace Thou mightest save our race, And give us life. (3) Thou art the great High-Priest; Thou hast prepared the feast Of heavenly love; While in our mortal pain None calls on thee in vain; Help thou dost not disdain— Help from above. (4) Ever be thou our guide, Our Shepherd and our Pride, Our Staf and Song: Jesus, thou Christ of God, By thy perennial Word 5 Clement’s poem has been described as a “sublime but somewhat turgid song of praise to the Logos,” and “not intended for public worship” (Pick, Hymns and Poetry, 7f.). Pick quotes a literal English translation of the complete hymn from Philip Schaf, History of the Christian Church, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: B. Eerdmans, 1910), 230. 6 An English translation characterized as a “free-verse rendition” was made by Simon P. Wood, Clement of Alexandria: Christ the Educator (The Fathers of the Church, vol. 23; New York: Fathers of the Church, 1954), 276–278. An annotated, more literal translation is that of Annewies van den Hoek, “Hymn of the Holy Clement to Christ the Saviour,” in Mark Kiley (ed.), Prayer from Alexander to Constantine: A Critical Anthology (London: Routledge, 1997), 296–303 (see Appendix 1 in the present volume)..

Load more