Our God Our Help

The words

1. Bach

   J.S. Bach, whose Fugue BWV 552 is nicknamed ‘St. Anne’.

   Hymnary.org: St Anne Croft (opens a new tab) · Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab)

2. Burial Service

   Croft’s Burial Service (Funeral Sentences). Croft’s other best-known work, which shares the hymn’s place at national occasions.

   Wikipedia: William Croft (opens a new tab)

3. Cannons

   Cannons, the Duke of Chandos’s Middlesex estate where Handel wrote the anthem.

   Wikipedia: Chandos Anthems (opens a new tab)

4. Chandos Anthem

   Handel’s Chandos Anthem ‘O praise the Lord with one consent’ (HWV 254). A Handel work that uses the tune’s opening line.

   Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab) · Wikipedia: Chandos Anthems (opens a new tab)

5. Chapel Royal

   The Chapel Royal, where Croft trained and later served. The tune composer’s training and career.

   Westminster Abbey: William Croft (opens a new tab)

6. Doctorate

   Croft’s 1713 Oxford musical degree, associated with his Utrecht odes.

   Max Planck Digital Library (opens a new tab)

7. Ettington

   Nether Ettington, Croft’s birthplace. Where the tune’s composer was born.

   Westminster Abbey: William Croft (opens a new tab)

8. John Blow

   John Blow, Croft’s teacher at the Chapel Royal.

   Westminster Abbey: William Croft (opens a new tab)

9. Remembrance

   Remembrance Day/Sunday observances. The hymn’s leading national use.

   Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab)

10. Soho

    Soho in London, home of St Anne’s Church. The church that probably gave the tune its name.

    Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab)

11. St Anne

    The hymn tune ST. ANNE. The tune almost always used for the hymn.

    Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab)

12. Utrecht

    The Peace of Utrecht (1713), celebrated in Croft’s doctoral odes. The occasion of the tune composer’s 1713 odes, close in time to the traditional 1714 dating of Watts’s text.

    Stainer & Bell (opens a new tab)

13. Warwickshire

    The county of Croft’s birth.

    Westminster Abbey: William Croft (opens a new tab)

14. Westminster

    Westminster Abbey, where Croft became organist.

    Westminster Abbey: William Croft (opens a new tab)

15. William Croft

    William Croft (1678–1727), the composer credited with ST. ANNE.

    Hymnology Archive: Our God, our help in ages (opens a new tab)