A descriptive song from 1893.
Words by W. B. Gray (Wm. B. Glenroy).
Music by G. L. Spaulding (Henry Lamb).
The sheet music, provided by the organist Phil Sparks, who was gifted it by Don and Linda Watson, who had gotten it from the collection of one of their relatives:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- The preacher in the village church
One Sunday morning said
“Our organist is ill today
Will someone play instead?”
An anxious look crept o’er the face
Of every person there
As eagerly they watched to see
Who’d fill the vacant chair
A man then staggered down the aisle
Whose clothes were old and torn
How strange a drunkard seemed to me
In church on Sunday morn
But as he touched the organ keys
Without a single word
The melody that followed was
The sweetest ever heard
Refrain
The scene was one I’ll ne’er forget
As long as I may live
And just to see it o’er again
All earthly wealth I’d give
The congregation all amazed
The preacher old and gray
The organ and the organist
Who volunteered to play
- Each eye shed tears within that church
The strongest men grew pale
The organist in melody
Had told his own life’s tale
The sermon of the preacher
Was no lesson to compare
With that of life’s example
Who sat in the organ chair
And when the service ended
Not a soul had left a seat
Except the poor old organist
Who started toward the street
Along the aisle and out the door
He slowly walked away
The preacher rose and softly said
“Good brethren let us pray”
Sung here by Vancha March: