Who wrote the hymn 'For the beauty of the Earth'?
Given its title it is quite easy to guess what inspired Folliott Sandford Pierpoint to write the hymn 'For the beauty of the Earth' in 1864. Growing up in Bath, surrounded by the beautiful countryside of Somerset, he only ventured out of the Southwest once - to go to Queens' College, Cambridge - before returning to Bath to teach at Somersetshire College. He was said to be 'memorised by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded him'.
The hymn is sung to a number of different tunes - one of which is the same tune the Christmas carol 'As with Gladness Men of Old.' More recently it has been sung to Lucerna Laudoniæ by Welsh composer David Evans, who has also composed a tune for the hymn 'Be Thou My Vision'.
In 1980 John Rutter created a new sacred choral composition from the hymn's first four stanzas, a work which has become one of Rutter's most popular anthems
What are the lyrics to the hymn 'For the beauty of the Earth'?
Find more lyrics to famous hymns