How Great Thou Art

Boberg wrote the poem "" ("O Great God") with nine stanzas. It was first published in 1886. Inspiration The inspiration for the poem came when Boberg was walking home from church near Kronobäck, Sweden, and listening to church bells. A sudden storm got Boberg's attention, and then just as suddenly as it had made its appearance, it subsided to a peaceful calm, which Boberg observed over Mönsterås Bay. According to J. Irving Erickson: According to Boberg's great-nephew, Bud Boberg, "My dad's story of its origin was that it was a paraphrase of Psalm 8 and was used in the 'underground church' in Sweden in the late 1800s when the Baptists and Mission Friends were persecuted." Eight verses appeared with the music in the 1890 hymnal . Boberg later sold the rights to the Svenska Missionsförbundet (Mission Covenant Church of Sweden). In 1891, all nine verses were published in the 1891 Covenant songbook, . published "" in time, as it has been sung ever since). The Swedish version that appeared in this edition was: ==English translations==

E. Gustav Johnson (1925) The first literal English translation of "" was written by E. Gustav Johnson (1893–1974), then a professor of North Park College, Illinois. His translation of verses 1, 2, and 7–9 was published in the United States in the Covenant Hymnal as "O Mighty God" in 1925. was dedicated to Jesus Christ in The Salvation Army by his parents. Hine was led to Christ by Madame Annie Ryall on 22 February 1914, and was baptised shortly thereafter. Hine was influenced greatly by the teachings of British Baptist evangelist Charles Spurgeon. Hine continued his evangelistic ministry in Britain working among the displaced Polish refugee community. Hine presents two additional, optional verses that he copyrighted in 1953 as a translation of the Russian version, and published the final four-verse version in his own Russian gospel magazine Grace and Peace that same year. and The Story of "How Great Thou art": How it came to be written ... With complete album of hymns of other lands ... Russian melodies, Eastern melodies, etc (1958). Hine died on 14 March 1989, his last place of residence being Seagull Cottage, Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex. His memorial service was held at the Gospel Hall in that town on 23 March 1989. Their father was Vernon 'Tim' Spencer (13 July 1908 – 26 April 1974), a converted cowboy, and former member of The Sons of the Pioneers, who had founded the newly established Manna Music of Burbank, California in 1955. Spencer negotiated with Hine for the purchase of the song. The Manna Music editors changed works and mighty in Hine's original translation to worlds and rolling respectively. According to Manna Music, "Presently it is considered, and has been for several years, to be the most popular Gospel song in the world." He reprised the song on his album Who Hath Measured the Waters In the Hollow of His Hand (Sacred Records LP 9041) later that year. It was popularized by George Beverly Shea and Cliff Barrows during Billy Graham crusades. on Oxford Street in London in 1954. Barrows, who also had been given a copy, had Paul Mickelson (died 21 October 2001) arrange the song for use in the 1955 Toronto Crusade. George Beverly Shea's recording of the hymn ranks number 204 on the top recordings of the 20th century according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Evangelist Billy Graham said: "The reason I like 'How Great Thou Art' is because it glorifies God. It turns Christian's eyes toward God, rather than upon themselves. I use it as often as possible because it is such a God-honoring song." Bayly translation (1957) The hymn was translated in 1957 for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship by Joseph T. Bayly (5 April 1920 – 16 July 1986), and set to the music of Josephine Carradine Dixon. According to Bud Boberg, the grandson of the younger brother of the original author of the poem: "It's a quite literal translation from Boberg, but I suspect that he had the Hine work at hand because he uses the phrase 'how great Thou art.' Also, the music by Josephine Carradine Dixon is similar to Hine's. He added two verses of his own." ==Other translations==

German translation (1907) The song was first translated from Swedish to German by a wealthy Baltic German Baptist nobleman, Manfred von Glehn (born 1867 in Jelgimaggi, Estonia; died 1924 in Brazil), who had heard the hymn in Estonia, where there was a Swedish-speaking minority. It was first published in . was produced in 1912 by Ivan S. Prokhanov (1869–1935), the "Martin Luther of Russia", so disliked both the hymn and its melody, he wrote a new text, "O Mighty God", and re-harmonised the Swedish tune in 1982. This was one of his last works before his death. His translation was included as hymn 466 in Rejoice in the Lord: A Hymn Companion to the Scriptures (1985). In English the first line is "O Lord, my God"; and the hymn may appear with that heading, especially in British hymnals, where first-line citation is the dominant practice. English-language hymnals prevailingly indicate the tune title as the Swedish first line, . Māori version In New Zealand, the hymn tune is most widely known through a different hymn called "". The Māori verses were composed by Canon Wiremu Te Tau Huata, who served as a chaplain during WWII for the 28th (Māori) Battalion and composed many famous waiata. While set to the music of "How Great Thou Art", and often combined with the English version of this hymn, the Māori lyrics are instead a loose translation of the hymn "Abide with Me". The hymn was popularised by Sir Howard Morrison, who sang it at the Royal Command Performance in 1981 upon the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to New Zealand. When Morrison released it as a single in 1982, "" spent six months in the New Zealand national charts, including five weeks in the number one position. Following the 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch, John Mayer opened his Auckland show by performing "" / "How Great Thou Art" alongside a kapa haka group as a tribute to Christchurch. In 2017, Canon Wiremu Te Tau Huata was awarded the Music Composers Award (Historical) at the 10th Annual Waiata Māori Music Awards, in part due to his composition of "". On 21 February 2024, members of the New Zealand Parliament stood and sang ''" at the conclusion of tributes to the recently deceased member Efeso Collins. The same thing happened with the death of Takutai Tarsh Kemp. ==Notable performers==

There have been over seventeen hundred documented recordings of "How Great Thou Art". It has been used on major television programs, in major motion pictures, and has been named as the favorite Gospel song of at least three United States presidents. which was released in March 1967. The song won Presley a Grammy Award for "Best Sacred Performance" in 1967, and another Grammy in 1974 for "Best Inspirational Performance (Non-Classical)" for his live performance album Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis (RCA CPL 1 0606; Released: June 1974) recorded on 20 March 1974 at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee. Swedish gospel singer Per-Erik Hallin has credited Elvis Presley's rendition as a major factor in the revival of "" in Sweden. On 4 April 2011, Carrie Underwood performed this song together with Vince Gill on the ACM Presents: Girls Night Out show. They received a standing ovation. It was televised on CBS on 22 April 2011, and shortly after the show had ended, her single version reached the No. 1 spot in iTunes' Top Gospel Songs and Top 40 in iTunes' All-Genre Songs. It debuted at the No. 2 position on Billboard Christian Digital songs chart and No. 35 on the Country Digital Songs chart. As of December 2014, it has sold 599,000 digital copies in the US. Underwood's version, featuring Gill, is included on her 2014 compilation album, Greatest Hits: Decade #1. ==Other verses==

Boberg's entire poem appears (with archaic Swedish spellings). Presented below are two of those verses which appear (more or less loosely) translated in British hymnbooks, followed in each case by the English. Swedish hymnals frequently include the following verse: ==References==