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(born: Chelmsford, Essex, England, 1824 - died: Hamilton, Ontario, 1908)
Choirmaster, Composer, Organist, Teacher
Born in Chelmsford, Essex, England, the Ambrose family emmigrated to a farm close to Guelph, Ontario in 1837. The family subsequently moved to Hamilton in 1845 when Robert's father, Charles, took a position there as organist and choirmaster. Robert, however, stayed in Guelph until two years later, when he moved to Kingston where his brother, Charles Jr., was a music teacher. In Kingston, Robert was organist and choirmaster at St. George's Church. By the early 1860s, he had relocated to Hamilton and served as organist-choirmaster at both the Church of the Ascension and Wesleyan Female College. In 1891, Robert was the president of the Canadian Society of Musicians. Robert's son Paul, was also a musician and composer. Paul studied piano and composition in both Ontario and New York. In New York he was an organist, choirmaster and music history teacher.
All members of this musical family were composers as well as teachers, organists and choir conductors. Charles Sr. composed Three Grand Sonatas, while Paul wrote over 200 songs, other choral and keyboard works. Robert was also a prolific composer and wrote over one hundred songs and part-songs, and 25 instrumental pieces.
Robert Steele Ambrose's most famous song was "One Sweetly Solemn Thought" with words by Phoebe Carey. Published in 1876, it was adapted as a hymn tune and used by the evangelist Dwight Lyman Moody and gospel singer Ira David Sankey (1840-1908) during their British evangelistic tours. This song appears in many published sources including the Canadian Musical Heritage Society's Volume 5. It has been recorded in various instrumentations including solo voice, vocal duet, and for instrumental soloists such as harp, organ, trombone and piano rolls. The version used on this website was originally for cornet and has been adapted for violin.
Ira Sankey claimed that this song could have purifying influences upon listeners. One story relates how, upon hearing a few hummed bars, a gambler immediately gave up his cards and money to become a newly reformed Christian man. The lyricist, Phoebe Carey (1824-1871), from Ohio, wrote the words on a Sunday morning in 1852, after church in her small third floor bedroom. The words are as follows:
One sweetly solemn thought
Comes to me o'er and o'er;
Nearer to my home today am I
Than e'er Iíve been before.
Nearer my Father's house,
Where many mansions be;
Nearer today, the great white throne,
Nearer the crystal sea.
Nearer the bound of life
Where burdens are laid down;
Nearer to leave the heavy cross,
Nearer to gain the crown.
But lying darkly between,
Winding down through the night,
Is the deep and unknown stream
To be crossed ere we reach the light.
Father, perfect my trust!
Strengthen my power of faith!
Nor let me stand, at last, alone
Upon the shore of death.
Be Thee near when my feet
Are slipping over the brink;
For it may be Iím nearer home,
Nearer now than I think.
Compositions available through Clifford Ford Publications:
Sources: