who wrote the hymn before the throne of god above
Charitie Lees Smith In 1860, one of Smith's first compositions O for the robes of whiteness appeared in leaflet form in the immediate aftermath of the Irish 1859 revival. In 1863, she wrote perhaps her best known hymn "Before the Throne of God Above" which she entitled The Advocate (a hymn which was revived in evangelical circles in the late 20th century). In 1867, Smith's father took the family to Tattyreagh, Omagh, County Tyrone, when he became the rector of St Columba's Church. Smith continued with her compositions, publishing them in a volume entitled Within the Veil in 1867.
Nearer, My God, to Thee "Nearer, My God, to Thee" is associated with the sinking of the RMS Titanic, as some survivors later reported that the ship's string ensemble played the hymn as the vessel sank. For example, Violet Jessop said in her 1934 account of the disaster that she had heard the hymn being played;[27] Archibald Gracie IV, however, emphatically denied it in his own account, written soon after the sinking, and wireless operator Harold Bride said that he had heard "Autumn",[28] by which he may have meant Archibald Joyce's then-popular waltz "Songe d'Automne" (Autumn Dream).[27] In feature films based on the Titanic disaster, the "Bethany" version was used in the 1929 film Atlantic and the 1943, 1953 and 1997 films titled Titanic, while the 1996 miniseries features "Autumn" instead. The "Horbury" version was played in the 1958 film, A Night to Remember.[7]