About this episode
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal. Based on Psalm 103, this hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte, who also penned Abide With Me, and is most asssociated with the tune by John Goss - even though the two men never met. Their hymn has become one of the most popular for weddings, and was used at those of the Queen and Prince Philip and Charles and Camilla. Increasingly it is also used at funerals, and the widow of DC Stephen Oake, killed while on duty during an anti-terrorist raid, explains why it's so important to her and her family. It's also the perfect tune for teaching young choristers to sight read music, although these days they often misplace the comma in the line, 'Father like, he tends and spares us'. Contributors John Ridyard Lesley Jenkins Ian Bradley Gordon Giles Daniel Hyde Rob White John Ganjavi Gillian Warson First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.