Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Soul Music
BBC
4.7 • 831 Ratings
🗓️ 6 September 2011
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The words of one of our most loved hymns, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, were taken from the last six verses of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, The Brewing of Soma, an attack on ostentatious and overt religious practise.
But it wasn't until over 50 years later, that a school teacher at Repton in Derbyshire had the inspiration to pair it with a tune by Sir Hubert Parry, thus confirming it as a favourite for assemblies, funerals and weddings.
Repton’s former music director, John Bowley, explains how this happened, while composer and conductor Bob Chilcott explains why this was a musical marriage made in heaven.
We hear from those for whom the hymn has special significance, including Gloucester MP, Richard Graham; when briefly imprisoned in a Libyan gaol in 1978 he found enormous comfort in the words and tune.
Pipe Major Ross Munro remembers recording the piece in the sweltering heat of Basra with members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and film director Joe Wright recalls how the inclusion of this hymn was central to the power of his famous scene depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk in his film, Atonement.
Contributors:
John Bowley Richard Graham Ian Bradley Bob Chilcott Joan Lambley Ross Munro Richard Hoyes Joe Wright
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.
Producer: Lucy Lunt
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before you listen to this BBC podcast, I'd like to quickly tell you about some others. |
| 0:05.1 | My name's Andy Martin and I'm the editor of a team of podcast producers at the BBC in Northern Ireland. |
| 0:11.3 | It's a job I really love because we get to tell the stories that really matter to people here, |
| 0:16.2 | but which also resonate and apply to listeners around the world. |
| 0:19.6 | And because the team is such a diverse range of skills and strengths, |
| 0:23.0 | we have trained journalists, people who love digging through archives, |
| 0:26.6 | we've got drama and even comedy experts. |
| 0:28.9 | We really can do those stories justice. |
| 0:31.5 | So if you like this podcast, head to BBC Sounds |
| 0:34.2 | where you'll find plenty more fascinating stories from all around the UK. |
| 0:39.3 | You're listening to a download of soul music from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:44.7 | It's ironic that a hymn which is so extraordinarily popular for congregational singing |
| 0:50.1 | was actually written by someone who wasn't terribly keen on him singing and certainly not |
| 0:56.1 | hearty hymn singing. |
| 0:57.4 | The whole flesh We know the same our right |
| 1:12.6 | The whole thrust of John Greenleaf Wittier's poem |
| 1:17.6 | from which dear Lord and Father of mankind has been extracted |
| 1:21.6 | is actually an attack on the hearty, emotional religion of his time. |
| 1:35.1 | John Greenleaf Whittier was an American politician, he was a very active Quaker, and he was also a writer. |
| 1:43.3 | My name's Ian Bradley, and I teach church history and practical theology |
| 1:47.1 | at the University of St Andrews. Dear Lord and Father of Mankind actually forms the last six |
| 1:53.7 | verses of a long poem by Whittier called the Brewing of Soma, which he wrote in 1872. Soma was an intoxicating drink, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.