A hymn for your congregation to learn and sing in worship, and for your family to learn and sing in the home.
Traditional recording (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
Modern recording (Reawaken Hymns)
Choral arrangement (John Rutter)
Choral arrangement (NAC South Africa)
Lyrics
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,
And for mountain, tree and flow'r, sun and moon and stars of light;
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above; for all gentle thoughts and mild.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For Thy Church that evermore lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore Her pure sacrifice of love:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For Thyself, best gift divine, to our race so freely given.
For that great, great love of Thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
Sheet Music / Arrangements
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/for-the-beauty-of-the-earth-1418599-855181/p (SATB, SA, TTBB, with flute, oboe, harp, and organ / John Rutter)
Choral: https://www.jwpepper.com/for-the-beauty-of-the-earth-10368663-327728/p (Unison, Two-part, with cello / Mark Patterson)
Piano: https://koertsmusic.com/downloads/for-the-beauty-of-the-earth/ (Intermediate / James Koerts)
Bible Memory Verse
"Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for at his command they were created." (Psalm 148:3-5, NIV)
The Story Behind the Hymn
Folliott Sandford Pierpoint was born in Bath, England in 1835. After being educated at Queens College in Cambridge, he taught at Somersetshire College. He contributed hymns to various publications and published at least two song books.
He wrote numerous poems, but For the Beauty of the Earth is the only one he is remembered for today. The hymn was originally written as a Eucharistic hymn. The Eucharist is what we refer to as The Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.
The phrase, “Christ our God to thee we raise, This our sacrifice of praise,” reflected the idea of sacrifice in the Mass. Those words were later changed to “Lord of all, to thee we raise, This our hymn of grateful praise.”
He was twenty-nine when he wrote For the Beauty of the Earth. The song was inspired by the beauty of the countryside that surrounded him. Pierpoint wrote praises of God for the beauties all around him into the lyrics. Take for instance beauty of the earth and sky, beauty of each hour, and the joy of human love that he incorporates into the lyrics.
The text from the original poem was changed for the 1916 hymnbook “Hymns Ancient and Modern” to make it a more general hymn.
Conrad Kocher composed the tune “Dix” in 1838. Three years after Pierpoint released “For the Beauty of the Earth” William Chatterton’s Dix used the same tune for the song, “As with Gladness, Men of Old,” in the Christmas Carol.