Ira D Sankey: Gospel Roots - Remembering the Father of Gospel Music Part 1

Thursday 1st October 1992

Gospel music, far from being a new recording phenomena was a sales sensation in the era of frock coats and cylinder recordings. In this, the first part of a major article, Mel R Wilhoit plots the history of IRA D SANKEY.



Continued from page 1

When Sankey's brief tours were completed he returned to New Castle. He continued to use his voice and gained wider exposure singing at Sunday School conventions and political gatherings throughout the surrounding counties. In 1867 a branch of the YMCA was begun in New Castle with Sankey serving as secretary and later as president. It was for this organization that he went as a delegate to Indianapolis in 1870 and met D.L.Moody.

After the convention, Sankey returned to New Castle and, for six months, pondered Moody's invitation; then he consented to spend one week with Moody in Chicago. During that week much of the time was spent in visiting the sick. In the first home the two men visited Moody said, "I am going to read a few words from the Bible, but first I want my friend, Sankey, to sing a little hymn for you." Sankey complied with "Scatter Seeds Of Kindness", a popular Sunday School song, and Moody was quite pleased.

Numerous public meetings were held in both the Illinois Street Church which Moody had founded and in the YMCA's Farwell Hall. During a service in Farwell, Moody leaned over to Sankey and informed him that he was speaking on the Prodigal Son and wanted him to sing "Come Home, O Prodigal Child". Sankey remonstrated that he had no organ to accompany himself, whereupon Moody pointed back over their shoulders to a large pipe organ with the query, "Isn't that enough for you?" Sankey tried to explain how it would not do as it was too large, too far away, and would require him to sing with his back to the audience. Undaunted Moody suggested Sankey give his music to the organist who had been accompanying the hymns and tell him how he wanted it played. Sankey was sceptical but seemed to have little alternative. Moody then preached and suddenly concluded with, "Mr. Sankey will now sing a solo for us, and let it be perfectly still while he sings." Sankey stood and turned to signal the organist to begin, only to find that he had not yet returned from the back room where he took his smoking breaks. Sankey stepped to the front of the platform and did his best acappella. If he was disappointed, apparently Moody was not, for at the conclusion of their week together Moody advised, "You see that I was right, your singing has been very helpful in all the meetings, and I am sure you ought to come to Chicago at once, and give up your business."

Sankey again returned to New Castle to consider this strange new opportunity. There his friends and pastor uniformly encouraged him to accept Moody's invitation. By now Ira needed little convincing; he resigned his job and in early 1871 set out for Chicago. They thus commenced work together...singing and praying with the sick, speaking and singing at the daily noon prayer meetings, and other work, until Mr. Moody's church was destroyed in the Chicago fire. That fire, in October of the same year, burned down practically the whole city. At first Sankey thought his ministry was finished, but both Moody and Chicago experienced a sort of rebirth and it soon reappeared bigger and better.

In 1873 Moody decided that he should undertake a preaching tour of England and asked Philip Phillips, a popular religious singer, to provide the music. Phillips, known as the Singing Pilgrim, had enjoyed widespread acclaim since the day President Lincoln had requested an encore of his performance of "Your Mission". Phillips was also revered in Europe and particularly England where Moody was heading; but he was unavailable. Moody next asked Philip P BIiss, a fine soloist and composer of Sunday School songs who had assisted Moody in some previous meetings, to fill the opening. Unfortunately, Moody was not able to guarantee Bliss enough to support his growing family; the preacher would have to look elsewhere.

This time his gaze settled on Sankey, his assistant of over two years. Sankey was both available and willing, and the two men and their wives set off for the old world in June 1873 with few contacts and little support. Sankey travelled light: "The only books I took with me were my Bagster Bible and my musical scrap-book, which contained a number of hymns which I had collected in the past years, and many of which, in the providence of God, were to be used in arousing such religious interest among the people..." However, even before reaching England, failure seemed like a real possibility. The two most important contacts Moody had made earlier had both died, and when the evangelists finally arrived in Liverpool there was no one to greet them. Moody began scrambling to find someone who might assist them. He soon located the secretary of the YMCA in York and requested him to secure a building for religious services. The advertisement read:

EVANGELISTIC SERVICES D.L.Moody of Chicago will preach, and Ira D. Sankey of Chicago will sing, at 7 o'clock p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, and each succeeding evening for a week, in the Independent Chapel. All are welcome. No collection.

Less than 50 people attended the first meeting and they sat in the rear of the building, as far from the pulpit as possible. "I sang several solos before Mr. Moody's address, and that was my first service of song in England. It was with some difficulty that I could get the people to sing, as they had not been accustomed to the kind of songs that I was using."

Moody was characteristically undaunted; both men continued holding meetings while attempting to refine their approaches for English audiences. Slowly attendance began to grow. Invitations to hold services in other towns began to trickle in, yet many English ministers-most being highly conservative in both their theology and methods-harboured considerable misgivings about inviting an unordained preacher and his solo-singing musical assistant to their pulpit.

One of these sceptics was Rev. A..A..Rees, Baptist pastor of the chapel in Sunderland. Sankey was sent to visit him and to check out local conditions. Almost immediately after his arrival Sankey was whisked off to the home of one William Longstaff, the church's treasurer. There in the corner of the parlour sat an American pump organ, the one used by Philip Phillips on his previous visit to the city. Sankey was requested to sing. He complied with "Come Home, O Prodigal", "Free From the Law", and "More To Follow". Rees sat quietly and listened. Fortunately for Sankey, he was unaware that Rees and his church were opposed to choirs, organs, and above all solo singing in church. Sankey's singing apparently did not justify the musical fears of the ad hoc auditioning committee, and before he left the next day an invitation to hold services was extended.

Soon after their arrival in Sunderland the two Americans were surprised to see walls and billboards boasting large posters declaring: "D.L. Moody of Chicago will preach the gospel, and Ira D. Sankey of Chicago will sing the gospel in Bethesda Chapel every afternoon and evening this week." Hence the origin of the famous phrase, "sing the gospel"-perhaps ironically originating with one of England's most conservative ministers.

This feature first appeared in Rejoice magazine, published by the University of Mississippi, USA. Used with permission. CR

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.
About Mel R Wilhoit
Mel R Wilhoit is an American academic who has written for numerous specialist publications.


 
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