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Johann Sebastian Bach

1685 - 1750 Person Name: J. S. Bach Scripture: Luke 2:8-14 Harmonizer of "ERMUNTRE DICH" in The United Methodist Hymnal Johann Sebastian Bach was born at Eisenach into a musical family and in a town steeped in Reformation history, he received early musical training from his father and older brother, and elementary education in the classical school Luther had earlier attended. Throughout his life he made extraordinary efforts to learn from other musicians. At 15 he walked to Lüneburg to work as a chorister and study at the convent school of St. Michael. From there he walked 30 miles to Hamburg to hear Johann Reinken, and 60 miles to Celle to become familiar with French composition and performance traditions. Once he obtained a month's leave from his job to hear Buxtehude, but stayed nearly four months. He arranged compositions from Vivaldi and other Italian masters. His own compositions spanned almost every musical form then known (Opera was the notable exception). In his own time, Bach was highly regarded as organist and teacher, his compositions being circulated as models of contrapuntal technique. Four of his children achieved careers as composers; Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Chopin are only a few of the best known of the musicians that confessed a major debt to Bach's work in their own musical development. Mendelssohn began re-introducing Bach's music into the concert repertoire, where it has come to attract admiration and even veneration for its own sake. After 20 years of successful work in several posts, Bach became cantor of the Thomas-schule in Leipzig, and remained there for the remaining 27 years of his life, concentrating on church music for the Lutheran service: over 200 cantatas, four passion settings, a Mass, and hundreds of chorale settings, harmonizations, preludes, and arrangements. He edited the tunes for Schemelli's Musicalisches Gesangbuch, contributing 16 original tunes. His choral harmonizations remain a staple for studies of composition and harmony. Additional melodies from his works have been adapted as hymn tunes. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Communauté de Taizé

Person Name: Taizé Community Scripture: Luke 2:14 Author of "Gloria, Gloria" in Songs for Life

Federico Fliedner

1845 - 1901 Person Name: Federico Fliedner, 1845-1901 Scripture: Luke 2:7-16 Translator (Spanish) of "Silent Night, Holy Night" in Lutheran Service Book [Friedrich Ludwig Fliedner, Fritz Fliedner] Born: June 10, 1845, Kaiserswerth, Düsseldorf, Germany. Died: April 25, 1901, Madrid, Spain, of typhus. Buried: Civil cemetery, Madrid, Spain. Son of Theodor Fliedner, founder of the Kaiserswerth Deaconess Institute, Federico was educated at the Gymnasium in Gütersloh, studied theology at Halle (1864-46) and earned his PhD at Tübingen (1867). He served as a nurse in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, and taught school for a year in rural Hilden. After ordination in 1870, he left Germany to be a missionary to Spain, settling in Madrid and becoming a chaplain at the German embassy. He learned Spanish, attended a Spanish high school, and studied medicine at the Universidad Central. Fliedner was instrumental in creating what is now known as the Iglesia Evangélica Española. In 1873, Fliedner founded the Librería Nacional y Extranjera, an extensive collection of text books and periodicals. Among these was The Children’s Friend, published from 1874 to 1939. Fliedner wrote biographies of John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, missionary-explorer David Livingstone, Martin Luther (1878), and his own parents, Theodore Fliedner of Kaiserswerth (1883) and Caroline Fliedner of Kaiserswerth (1883). He also wrote an autobiography, published first in German in two volumes (Aus meinem Leben, 1901-03), then translated into Spanish and published posthumously in the Christian Magazine (Nos. 513 to 553). He started a Spanish translation of the New Testament with notes from Frenchman Edouard Faivre. --www.hymntime.com/tch

Gustav Holst

1874 - 1934 Person Name: Gustav Theodore Holst Scripture: Luke 2:8-20 Composer of "CRANHAM" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Gustav Holst (b. Chelteham, Gloucestershire, England, September 21, 1874, d. London, England, May 25, 1934) was a renowned British composer and musician. Having studied at Cheltenham Grammar School, he soon obtained a professional position as an organist, and later as choirmaster. In 1892, Holst composed a two-act operetta, which so impressed his father that he borrowed the money to send Holst to the Royal College of Music. Severe neuritis in his right hand later caused him to give up the keyboard, and Holst turned to the trombone and composing. In 1895 Holst met Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the two became lifelong friends. Vaughan Williams helped Holst land his first job as a singing teacher. Holst became very interested in Indian and Hindu culture, and composed a number of operas translated from Sanksrit myths. These were not received well in England, however. Holst is best known for his composition, The Planets, as well as

Pablo D. Sosa

1933 - 2020 Person Name: Pablo Sosa Scripture: Luke 2:14 Author of "Glory, Glory, Glory" in Glory to God Pablo Sosa (b. 1933 - d. 2020) grew up and was educated in Argentina, the U.S. (Westminster Choir College), and Germany. For years he pastored a large Methodist congregation in Buenos Aires, Argentina while composing songs, leading choirs, editing hymnals, producing religious broadcasts, and teaching liturgy and hymnology at a seminary. Meanwhile, life in Argentina pushed him to question his assumptions about what’s best for congregational singing. During Argentina’s “dirty war,” two young women from his church were disappeared, possibly for working among the poor. As Catholic and Protestant churches hesitated whether to speak out, remain silent, or support the government, many people lost faith. Economic meltdown after the war plunged many middle-class Argentinians into poverty. Sosa’s growing social awareness widened his vision for “lifting up hope with a song.” He often describes worship as “the fiesta of the faithful,” where all are welcome and all music is seen as “part of the ‘song of the earth,’ which answers the psalmist’s call ‘Sing joyfully to God, all the earth!’ (Psalm 98:4).” Whether in his home church, Iglesia Evangélica Metodista La Tercera (Third Methodist Church) in Buenos Aires, or at churches or conferences around the world, he urges people, “Put your body into worship!” And he reminds them of the biblical connection between justice and worship. CICW Website Bio (http://www.calvin.edu/worship)

Arthur Sullivan

1842 - 1900 Person Name: Arthur S. Sullivan Scripture: Luke 2:14 Composer of "NOEL" in Rejoice in the Lord Arthur Seymour Sullivan (b Lambeth, London. England. 1842; d. Westminster, London, 1900) was born of an Italian mother and an Irish father who was an army bandmaster and a professor of music. Sullivan entered the Chapel Royal as a chorister in 1854. He was elected as the first Mendelssohn scholar in 1856, when he began his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-1861) and in 1866 was appointed professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Early in his career Sullivan composed oratorios and music for some Shakespeare plays. However, he is best known for writing the music for lyrics by William S. Gilbert, which produced popular operettas such as H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1884), and Yeomen of the Guard (1888). These operettas satirized the court and everyday life in Victorian times. Although he composed some anthems, in the area of church music Sullivan is best remembered for his hymn tunes, written between 1867 and 1874 and published in The Hymnary (1872) and Church Hymns (1874), both of which he edited. He contributed hymns to A Hymnal Chiefly from The Book of Praise (1867) and to the Presbyterian collection Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867). A complete collection of his hymns and arrangements was published posthumously as Hymn Tunes by Arthur Sullivan (1902). Sullivan steadfastly refused to grant permission to those who wished to make hymn tunes from the popular melodies in his operettas. Bert Polman

Lewis H. Redner

1831 - 1908 Person Name: Lewis Henry Redner Scripture: Luke 2:4-14 Composer of "ST. LOUIS" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Lewis Henry Redner (1831-1908) was born in Philadelphia, where he became a real estate agent and served on weekends as an organist and Sunday School Superintendent. He spent nineteen years at Holy Trinity church where Phillip Brooks was rector, and is credited with increasing attendance at the Sunday School from thirty-one to more than a thousand. In 1868 Brooks asked him to write a tune for his new text for children inspired by his recent trip to Bethlehem. Redner composed the tune the night before it was to be sung in worship on Sunday morning. The text and tune were first published in 1894 in The Church Porch, where the tune was named ST. LOUIS, possibly after the composer’s name. Redner is remembered today because of this one tune that has remained a Christmas favorite. Emily Brink

David Willcocks

1919 - 2015 Person Name: David Willcocks, b. 1919 Scripture: Luke 2:1-20 Arranger of "CRADLE SONG" in With One Voice

Cecil Frances Alexander

1818 - 1895 Person Name: Cecil F. Alexander Scripture: Luke 2:11-12 Author of "Once in Royal David's City" in Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) As a small girl, Cecil Frances Humphries (b. Redcross, County Wicklow, Ireland, 1818; Londonderry, Ireland, 1895) wrote poetry in her school's journal. In 1850 she married Rev. William Alexander, who later became the Anglican primate (chief bishop) of Ireland. She showed her concern for disadvantaged people by traveling many miles each day to visit the sick and the poor, providing food, warm clothes, and medical supplies. She and her sister also founded a school for the deaf. Alexander was strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement and by John Keble's Christian Year. Her first book of poetry, Verses for Seasons, was a "Christian Year" for children. She wrote hymns based on the Apostles' Creed, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the Ten Commandments, and prayer, writing in simple language for children. Her more than four hundred hymn texts were published in Verses from the Holy Scripture (1846), Hymns for Little Children (1848), and Hymns Descriptive and Devotional ( 1858). Bert Polman ================== Alexander, Cecil Frances, née Humphreys, second daughter of the late Major John Humphreys, Miltown House, co. Tyrone, Ireland, b. 1823, and married in 1850 to the Rt. Rev. W. Alexander, D.D., Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. Mrs. Alexander's hymns and poems number nearly 400. They are mostly for children, and were published in her Verses for Holy Seasons, with Preface by Dr. Hook, 1846; Poems on Subjects in the Old Testament, pt. i. 1854, pt. ii. 1857; Narrative Hymns for Village Schools, 1853; Hymns for Little Children, 1848; Hymns Descriptive and Devotional, 1858; The Legend of the Golden Prayers 1859; Moral Songs, N.B.; The Lord of the Forest and his Vassals, an Allegory, &c.; or contributed to the Lyra Anglicana, the S.P.C.K. Psalms and Hymns, Hymns Ancient & Modern, and other collections. Some of the narrative hymns are rather heavy, and not a few of the descriptive are dull, but a large number remain which have won their way to the hearts of the young, and found a home there. Such hymns as "In Nazareth in olden time," "All things bright and beautiful," "Once in Royal David's city," "There is a green hill far away," "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult," "The roseate hues of early dawn," and others that might be named, are deservedly popular and are in most extensive use. Mrs. Alexander has also written hymns of a more elaborate character; but it is as a writer for children that she has excelled. - John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) =============== Alexander, Cecil F., née Humphreys, p. 38, ii. Additional hymns to those already noted in this Dictionary are in common use:— 1. Christ has ascended up again. (1853.) Ascension. 2. His are the thousand sparkling rills. (1875.) Seven Words on the Cross (Fifth Word). 3. How good is the Almighty God. (1S48.) God, the Father. 4. In [a] the rich man's garden. (1853.) Easter Eve. 5. It was early in the morning. (1853.) Easter Day. 6. So be it, Lord; the prayers are prayed. (1848.) Trust in God. 7. Saw you never in the twilight? (1853.) Epiphany. 8. Still bright and blue doth Jordan flow. (1853.) Baptism of Our Lord. 9. The angels stand around Thy throne. (1848.) Submission to the Will of God. 10. The saints of God are holy men. (1848.) Communion of Saints. 11. There is one Way and only one. (1875.) SS. Philip and James. 12. Up in heaven, up in heaven. (1848.) Ascension. 13. We are little Christian children. (1848.) Holy Trinity. 14. We were washed in holy water. (1848.) Holy Baptism. 15. When of old the Jewish mothers. (1853.) Christ's Invitation to Children. 16. Within the Churchyard side by side. (1848.) Burial. Of the above hymns those dated 1848 are from Mrs. Alexander's Hymns for Little Children; those dated 1853, from Narrative Hymns, and those dated 1875 from the 1875 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern. Several new hymns by Mrs. Alexander are included in the 1891 Draft Appendix to the Irish Church Hymnal. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ============= Alexander, Cecil F. , p. 38, ii. Mrs. Alexander died at Londonderry, Oct. 12, 1895. A number of her later hymns are in her Poems, 1896, which were edited by Archbishop Alexander. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907) See also in:Hymn Writers of the Church

Edward Shippen Barnes

1887 - 1958 Scripture: Luke 2:8-14 Arranger of "GLORIA" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Edward Shippen Barnes was an American organist and composer. He was born 9 September 1887 in Seabright, NJ and died 2 February 1958 in Idyllwild, CA. He studied at Yale University with Horatio Parker and Harry Jepson, then continued his studies in Paris. He worked as an organizt at Church of the Incarnation in New York, Rutgers Presbyterian Chruch in New York, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia and the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica. He is known for his organ syvmphonies. Dianne Shapiro