"Onward, Christian Soldiers" is a 19th century English hymn

Hymn

A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

. The words were written by Sabine Baring-Gould

Sabine Baring-Gould

The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould was an English hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, Lew Trenchard Manor near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it...

 in 1865, and the music was composed by Arthur Sullivan

Arthur Sullivan

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...

 in 1871. Sullivan named the tune "St. Gertrude," after the wife of his friend Ernest Clay Ker Seymer, at whose country home he composed the tune. The Salvation Army

Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

 adopted the hymn as its favoured processional

Processional hymn

A processional hymn is a chant, hymn or other music sung during the Procession, usually at the start of a Christian service although occasionally during the service itself. The procession usually contains members of the clergy and the choir walking behind the processional cross...

. The piece became Sullivan's most popular hymn. The hymn's theme is taken from references in the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

 to the Christian being a soldier for Christ

New Testament military metaphors

The New Testament uses a number of military metaphors in discussing Christianity, especially in the Pauline epistles.In Philippians 2:25 and Philemon 1:2, Paul describes fellow Christians as "fellow soldiers"...

, for example II Timothy 2:3 (KJV): "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."

Early history

The lyric was written as a processional hymn for children walking from Horbury Bridge, where Baring-Gould was curate, to Horbury

Horbury

-Demography:In 2008 Horbury had a largely white population compared with Yorkshire and the Humber.-Population change:The population of Horbury in 2001 was 10,002-Transport:...

 St Peter's Church

St Peter and St Leonard's Church, Horbury

St Peter and St Leonard's Church, Horbury is in Horbury, West Yorkshire, England. It is an active Church of England parish church and part of the Wakefield deanery in the archdeaconry of Pontefract, diocese of Wakefield and commonly known as St Peter's. It is on the site of a Norman church built in...

 near Wakefield

Wakefield

Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, at Whitsuntide

Pentecost

Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 in 1865. It was originally entitled, "Hymn for Procession with Cross and Banners." According to the Center for Church Music, Baring-Gould reportedly wrote "Onward, Christian Soldiers" in about 15 minutes, later apologizing, "It was written in great haste, and I am afraid that some of the lines are faulty." He later allowed hymn-book compilers to alter the lyrics. For example, The Fellowship Hymn Book, with his permission, changed the phrase "one in hope and doctrine" to "one in hope and purpose." For the 1909 edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern

Hymns Ancient and Modern was a hymnal in common use within the Church of England. Over the years it has grown into a large family of hymnals....

, he changed the fifth line of the same verse from "We are not divided" to "Though divisions harass." However, Baring-Gould’s original words are used in most modern hymnals.

Baring-Gould originally set the lyrics to a melody from the slow movement of Joseph Haydn

Joseph Haydn

Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...

’s Symphony in D, No. 15

Symphony No. 15 (Haydn)

Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 15 in D major, Hoboken I/15, may have been written between 1760 and 1763.It is scored for 2 oboes, bassoon, 2 horns, strings and continuo, with a solo for 2 violas or cello in the trio of the minuet...

. This was printed in 1871 in an English church periodical, the Church Times. The hymn did not receive wide acceptance, however, until Sullivan wrote the tune "St. Gertrude" for it. Sullivan re-used the tune in his Boer War Te Deum, first performed in 1902, after his death. Another hymn sung to the St. Gertrude tune is "Forward Through the Ages", written by Frederick Lucian Hosmer (1840–1929) in 1908.

Later history

When Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

 and Franklin Roosevelt met in 1941 on the battleship HMS Prince of Wales to agree the Atlantic Charter

Atlantic Charter

The Atlantic Charter was a pivotal policy statement first issued in August 1941 that early in World War II defined the Allied goals for the post-war world. It was drafted by Britain and the United States, and later agreed to by all the Allies...

, a church service was held for which Prime Minister Churchill chose the hymns. He chose "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and afterwards made a radio broadcast explaining this choice:
The song has been sung at many funerals, including at the funeral of American president Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 at the National Cathedral, Washington, DC, March 1969. Apart from its obvious martial associations, the song has been associated with protest

Protest

A protest is an expression of objection, by words or by actions, to particular events, policies or situations. Protests can take many different forms, from individual statements to mass demonstrations...

 against the established order, as in the cases of civil rights

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 and the attempts to outlaw chiropractry.

An attempt was made in 1986 to strip "Onward, Christian Soldiers" from the United Methodist Hymnal

United Methodist Hymnal

The United Methodist Hymnal is the hymnal used by The United Methodist Church. It was first published in 1989 as the first hymnal for The United Methodist Church after the 1968 merger of The Methodist Church with The Evangelical United Brethren Church...

due to perceived militarism. Outrage among church goers caused the committee to back down. However, the hymn was omitted from the 1990 hymnal of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Presbyterian Church (USA)

The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...

 and the 1888 Australian Hymn Book

Australian Hymn Book

The Australian Hymn Book was published in 1977, and was the culmination of almost ten year's work by an ecumenical committee, chaired by A. Harold Wood, intent on producing a new, contemporary and inclusive hymn book that could be used in worship by the varied Christian congregations across...

, published in 1988, and its successor, Together in Song

Together in Song

Together in Song: Australian Hymn Book II was published in 1999. It is a book of 783 psalms, hymns and spiritual songs for use in Christian worship in Australia and elsewhere. It is a significant revision of The Australian Hymn Book published 22 years earlier.It was created by an ecumenical...

, published in 1999. The Spiritualists' National Union

Spiritualists' National Union

The Spiritualists' National Union is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901, and is one of the largest spiritualist groups in the world. Its motto is Light, Nature, Truth....

 hymnbook has a variation on the hymn, entitled "Onward, Comrades, Onward".

In popular culture

Largely because of its association with missionaries of various types, the song is sung in a number of movies and television programmes. The 1939 film, Stanley and Livingstone

Stanley and Livingstone

Stanley and Livingstone is a movie about reporter Sir Henry M. Stanley's quest for Dr. David Livingstone, a missionary presumed lost in Africa. Spencer Tracy played Stanley, Sir Cedric Hardwicke portrayed Livingstone, and other cast members included Nancy Kelly, Walter Brennan, Charles Coburn,...

, depicts Dr David Livingstone

David Livingstone

David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...

 (played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke) spiritedly leading a choir of African people in this anthem; Henry M. Stanley is played by Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

 in the movie. The piece appears in several other films, including Major Barbara, Mrs. Miniver

Mrs. Miniver (film)

Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Teresa Wright. Based on the fictional English housewife created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns, the film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture,...

, A Canterbury Tale

A Canterbury Tale

A Canterbury Tale is a 1944 British film by the film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Eric Portman, Sheila Sim, Dennis Price and Sgt. John Sweet; Esmond Knight provided narration and played several small roles. For the postwar American release, Raymond Massey narrated...

, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....

, M*A*S*H

MASH (film)

MASH is a 1970 American satirical dark comedy film directed by Robert Altman and written by Ring Lardner, Jr., based on Richard Hooker's novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. It is the only feature film in the M*A*S*H franchise...

, Taps

Taps (film)

Taps is a 1981 drama film starring George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, as well as then up-and-comers Tom Cruise and Sean Penn. Hutton was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1982 for his role in the film. The film was directed by Harold Becker. The screenplay by Robert Mark Kamen, James...

, Striptease

Striptease (film)

-Release:Striptease was distributed by Sony and was finally released in the United States on June 28, 1996, after a June 23 premiere in New York City. It opened in Australia, France and Germany in August, and Argentina, Italy, Bolivia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan in...

, The Bushbaby

The Bushbaby

The Bushbaby is a 1969 film based on the novel The Bushbabies by William Stevenson and adapted by Robert Maxwell. It was directed and produced by John Trent and stars Margaret Brooks and Lou Gossett in the title roles, also starring Donald Houston and Laurence Naismith.The film tells an episode...

, Walker

Walker (film)

Walker is a 1987 Acid Western film directed by Alex Cox. The film based on the life story of William Walker , the American filibuster who invaded Mexico in the 1850s and made himself President of Nicaragua shortly thereafter. It was written by Rudy Wurlitzer and scored by Joe Strummer, who also...

, Androcles and the Lion, and Flyboys

Flyboys

Flyboys is a 2006 American drama film set during World War I, starring James Franco, Martin Henderson, Jean Reno, Jennifer Decker, David Ellison, Abdul Salis, Philip Winchester, and Tyler Labine. It was directed by Tony Bill, a pilot and aviation enthusiast. The screenplay was written by Phil...

. It is also sung or played in episodes of TV series, including Little House on the Prairie

Little House on the Prairie (TV series)

Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...

, The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, Little Britain

Little Britain

Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...

and Dad's Army

Dad's Army

Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...

.

Onward Christian Soldiers is the title of a 1984 album and song by the British anarcho-punk

Anarcho-punk

Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

 band Icons of Filth

Icons of Filth

Icons of Filth were an influential British anarcho-punk band that disbanded in 2004, after the unexpected death of its lead singer Andrew Sewell, or Stiggy Smeg.-Early history:...

. In the book Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno

Robert Ferrigno

Robert Ferrigno is an American author of crime novels and of speculative fiction. Eight books published between 1990 ad 2004 were well received additions to the detective and thriller genres, while the post 9/11 'Assassin trilogy' is set in an imagined United States dominated by Islam.-Novels:*...

, the song is the national anthem of the fictional Bible Belt. In Christopher Webber

Christopher Webber

Christopher Webber is an English actor, dramatist, theatre director, writer and music critic.-Biography :Webber was born in Cheshire and educated at The Manchester Grammar School and the University of Kent at Canterbury...

's 1993 play Dr Sullivan and Mr Gilbert, the hymn is used with new words about Sullivan's rise to fame, and the artistic compromises that entailed.

"Christian Zeal and Activity

Christian Zeal and Activity

"Christian Zeal and Activity" is the middle movement of American composer John Adams' 3-part ensemble work American Standard. The piece has achieved individual notability and is often performed and recorded without the other movements....

", a 1973 work by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer John Adams, is an arrangement of Sullivan's tune. The hymn's tune has also been used as the basis for many parodies, including Lloyd George Knew My Father

Lloyd George Knew My Father (song)

Lloyd George Knew My Father is a 20th Century English schoolboy folk song. The simple lyrics consist of the phrase "Lloyd George knew my father/Father knew Lloyd George" sung to the tune of Onward, Christian Soldiers...

and Like a mighty tortoise, / Moves the Church of God; / Brothers, we are treading / Where we've always trod.

External links

• "Onward, Christian Soldiers", many early recordings, via Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  . Melody (MIDI) and piano score at HymnSite.com.
• Explanations of biblical sources
• Information about the original title
• New York Times Article on the Methodist Hymnal
• List of music in films and TV by Sullivan, including many listings for "Onward, Christian Soldiers"
• "Onward, Christian Soldiers" at The Cyber Hymnal