I'll Be a Sunbeam I'll Be a Sunbeam "I'll Be a Sunbeam" (also called "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam") is a popular children's Christian hymn composed by Nellie Talbot; it is sung to music composed in 1900 by Edwin O. Excell. Due to its age, the hymn has entered the public domain in the United States. Published in Chicago by Excell as hymn number 137 in his "Praises" in 1905, the words and music were anthologized at least three more times in other hymnals before 1923. Virtually nothing is known about lyricist Nellie Talbot; attempts to search census records suggest that she may
How Firm a Foundation (hymn) Christmas Eve 1898, American units involved in the Spanish–American War joined together to sing the hymn. The units were from the North and the South. The hymn, along with "Jesus Loves Me," served as the thematic material for Virgil Thomson's "Symphony on a Hymn Tune", which was later incorporated into his score for the 1938 documentary film "The River". Sections of "The River"'s score were reused in the 1983 television film "The Day After". Don Gillis interspersed the hymn tune throughout his Symphony No. 7 "Saga of a Prairie School", written in honor of his alma mater, Texas Christian University.