I hear thy welcome voice

I hear thy welcome voice. Lewis Hartsough* (1828-1919). Written at Epworth, Iowa, where Hartsough was a Methodist minister, and published in the revised edition of The Revivalist (1872), of which Hartsough was music editor, and then in a monthly periodical, Guide to Holiness (1873), where it was found by Ira D. Sankey*. Sankey described it as ‘this beautiful hymn’ which ‘proved to be one of the most helpful of the revival hymns’ (Sankey, 1906, p. 116). It was subsequently used by Sankey and Philip P. Bliss* in Gospel Hymns no 2 (1876) and in successive editions of Sacred Songs and Solos. This uses Hartsough’s own tune, usually called GWAHODDIAD, but occasionally called I HEAR THY WELCOME...