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Caroline M. Noel

1817 - 1877 Person Name: Caroline Maria Noel, 1817-77 Hymnal Number: 743 Author of "At the Name of Jesus" in Worship Supplement Caroline Marie Noel (b. Teston, Kent, England, 1817; d. St. Marylebone, London, England, 1877) The daughter of an Anglican clergyman and hymn writer, she began to write poetry in her late teens but then abandoned it until she was in her forties. During those years she suffered frequent bouts of illness and eventually became an invalid. To encourage both herself and others who were ill or incapacitated, Noel began to write devotional verse again. Her poems were collected in The Name of Jesus and Other Verses for the Sick and Lonely (1861, enlarged in 1870). Bert Polman ================ Noel, Caroline Maria, daughter of the Hon. Gerard T. Noel (p. 809, ii.), and niece of the Hon. Baptist W. Noel, was born in London, April 10, 1817, and died at 39 Great Cumberland Place, Hyde Park, Dec. 7, 1877. Her first hymn, "Draw nigh unto my soul" (Indwelling), was written when she was 17. During the next three years she wrote about a dozen pieces: from 20 years of age to 40 she wrote nothing; and during the next 20 years the rest of her pieces were written. The first edition of her compositions was published as The Name of Jesus and Other Verses for the Sick and Lonely, in 1861. This was enlarged from time to time, and its title subsequently changed by the publishers to The Name of Jesus and Other Poems. The 1878 ed. contains 78 pieces. Miss Noel, in common with Miss Charlotte Elliott, was a great sufferer, and many of these verses were the outcome of her days of pain. They are specially adapted "for the Sick and Lonely" and were written rather for private meditation than for public use, although several are suited to the latter purpose. Her best known hymn is the Processional for Ascension Day, "At the Name of Jesus." It is in the enlarged edition of The Name of Jesus, &c, 1870, p. 59, and is dated 1870 by her family. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

St. John of Damascus

675 - 787 Person Name: John of Damascus, c. 696-c. 754 Hymnal Number: 738 Author of "Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain" in Worship Supplement Eighth-century Greek poet John of Damascus (b. Damascus, c. 675; d. St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, c. 754) is especially known for his writing of six canons for the major festivals of the church year. John's father, a Christian, was an important official at the court of the Muslim caliph in Damascus. After his father's death, John assumed that position and lived in wealth and honor. At about the age of forty, however, he became dissatisfied with his life, gave away his possessions, freed his slaves, and entered the monastery of St. Sabas in the desert near Jerusalem. One of the last of the Greek fathers, John became a great theologian in the Eastern church. He defended the church's use of icons, codified the practices of Byzantine chant, and wrote about science, philosophy, and theology. Bert Polman ======================== John of Damascus, St. The last but one of the Fathers of the Greek Church, and the greatest of her poets (Neale). He was of a good family in Damascus, and educated by the elder Cosmas in company with his foster-brother Cosmas the Melodist (q. v.). He held some office under the Caliph. He afterwards retired to the laura of St. Sabas, near Jerusalem, along with his foster-brother. There he composed his theological works and his hymns. He was ordained priest of the church of Jerusalem late in life. He lived to extreme old age, dying on the 4th December, the day on which he is commemorated in the Greek calendar, either in his 84th or 100th year (circa 780). He was called, for some unknown reason, Mansur, by his enemies. His fame as a theologian rests on his work, the first part of which consists of philosophical summaries, the second dealing with heresies, and the third giving an account of the orthodox faith. His three orations in favour of the Icons, from which he obtained the name of Chrysorrhous and The Doctor of Christian Art, are very celebrated. The arrangement of the Octoechusin accordance with the Eight Tones was his work, and it originally contained no other Canons than his. His Canons on the great Festivals are his highest achievements. In addition to his influence on the form and music, Cardinal Pitra attributes to him the doctrinal character of the later Greek hymnody. He calls him the Thomas Aquinas of the East. The great subject round which his hymns are grouped is The Incarnation, developed in the whole earthly career of the Saviour. In the legendary life of the saint the Blessed Virgin Mary is introduced as predicting this work: the hymns of John of Damascus should eclipse the Song of Moses, rival the cherubim, and range all the churches, as maidens beating their tambours, round their mother Jerusalem (Pitra, Hymn. Grecque, p. 33). The legend illustrates not only the dogmatic cast of the hymns, but the introduction of the Theotokion and Staurotheotokion, which becomes the prevalent close of the Odes from the days of St. John of Damascus: the Virgin Mother presides over all. The Canons found under the name of John Arklas (one of which is the Iambic Canon at Pentecost) are usually attributed to St. John of Damascus, and also those under the name of John the Monk. Some doubt, however, attaches to the latter, because they are founded on older rhythmical models which is not the case with those bearing the name of the Damascene, and they are not mentioned in the ancient Greek commentaries on his hymns. One of these is the Iambic Canon for Christmas. His numerous works, both in prose and verse, were published by Le Quien, 1712; and a reprint of the same with additions by Migne, Paris, 1864. Most of his poetical writings are contained in the latter, vol. iii. pp. 817-856, containing those under the title Carmina; and vol. iii. pp. 1364-1408, the Hymni. His Canon of SS. Peter & Paul is in Hymnographie Grecque, by Cardinal Pitra, 1867. They are also found scattered throughout the Service Books of the Greek Church, and include Iambic Canons on the Birth of Christ, the Epiphany, and on Pentecost; Canons on Easter, Ascension, the Transfiguration, the Annunciation, and SS. Peter & Paul: and numerous Idiomela. In addition, Cardinal Mai found a manuscript in the Vatican and published the same in his Spicilegium Romanum, which contained six additional Canons, viz.: In St. Basilium; In St. Chrysostomum; In St. Nicolaum; In St. Petrum; In St. Georgium, and In St. Blasium. But M. Christ has urged grave objections to the ascription of these to St. John of Damascus (Anthologia Graeca Carminum Christorium, p. xlvii.). Daniel's extracts in his Thesaurus Hymnologicus, vol. iii. pp. 80, 97, extend to six pieces. Dr. Neale's translations of portions of these works are well known. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Horatius Bonar

1808 - 1889 Person Name: Horatius Bonar, 1808-89 Hymnal Number: 775 Author of "Go Labor On" in Worship Supplement Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872 ================================ Bonar, Horatius, D.D. Dr. Bonar's family has had representatives among the clergy of the Church of Scotland during two centuries and more. His father, James Bonar, second Solicitor of Excise in Edinburgh, was a man of intellectual power, varied learning, and deop piety. Horatius Bonar was born in Edinburgh, Dec. 19th, 1808; and educated at the High School and the University of Edinburgh. After completing his studies, he was "licensed" to preach, and became assistant to the Rev. John Lewis, minister of St. James's, Leith. He was ordained minister of the North Parish, Kelso, on the 30th November, 1837, but left the Established Church at the "Disruption," in May, 1848, remaining in Kelso as a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. The University of Aberdeen conferred on him the doctorate of divinity in 1853. In 1866 he was translated to the Chalmers Memorial Church, the Grange, Edinburgh; and in 1883 he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly of of the Free Church of Scotland. Dr. Bonar's hymns and poems were, he tells us, composed amid a great variety of circumstances; in many cases he cannot himself recall these circumstances; they also appeared in several publications, but nearly all have boen published or republished in the following:— (i) Songs for the Wilderness, 1843-4. (2) The Bible Hymn Book, 1845. (3) Hymns, Original and Selected, 1846. (4) Hymns of Faith and Hope, First Series, 1857; Second Series, 1861; Third Series, 1866. (5) The Song of the New Creation, 1872. (6) My Old Letters, a long poem, 1877. (7) Hymns of the Nativity, 1879. (8) Communion Hymns, 1881. In addition to numerous prose works, he has also edited The New Jerusalem; a Hymn of the Olden Time, 1852, &c. Dr. Bonar's poems—-including many beautiful lyrics, several psalm versions, and translations from the Greek and Latin, a large number of hymns, and a long meditative poem—-are very numerous, too numerous, perhaps, for their permanent fame as a whole. Dr. Bonar's scholarship is thorough and extensive; and his poems display the grace of style and wealth of allusion which are the fruit of ripe culture. Affected very slightly by current literary moods, still less by the influence of other religious poetry, they reveal extreme susceptibility to the emotional power which the phases of natural and of spiritual life exercise; the phases of natural life being recognised chiefly as conveying and fashioning spiritual life, used chiefly for depicting spiritual life, and handled for this purpose with greater delicacy of touch than in the Olney Hymns, and with less conscious purpose than in the Christian Year. As a result of this susceptibility, and from habitual contemplation of the Second Advent as the era of this world's true bliss, his hymns and poems are distinguished by a tone of pensive reflection, which some might call pessimism. But they are more than the record of emotion; another element is supplied by his intellectual and personal grasp of Divine truth, these truths particularly:—The gift of a Substitute, our Blessed Saviour; Divine grace, righteous, yet free and universal in offer; the duty of immediate reliance upon the privilege of immediate assurance through that grace; communion with God, especially in the Lord's Supper, respecting which he insists on the privilege of cherishing the highest conceptions which Scripture warrants; and finally, the Second Advent of our Lord: by his vigorous celebration of these and other truths as the source and strength of spiritual life, his hymns are protected from the blight of unhealthy, sentimental introspection. To sum up: Dr. Bonar's hymns satisfy the fastidious by their instinctive good taste; they mirror the life of Christ in the soul, partially, perhaps, but with vivid accuracy; they win the heart by their tone of tender sympathy; they sing the truth of God in ringing notes; and although, when taken as a whole, they are not perfect ; although, in reading them, we meet with feeble stanzas, halting rhythm, defective rhyme, meaningless Iteration; yet a singularly large number have been stamped with approval, both in literary circles and by the Church. In Great Britain and America nearly 100 of Dr. Bonar's hymns are in common use. They are found in almost all modern hymnals from four in Hymns Ancient & Modern to more than twenty in the American Songs for the Sanctuary, N. Y., 1865-72. The most widely known are, "A few more years shall roll;" "Come, Lord, and tarry not;" "Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face;" "I heard the Voice of Jesus say;" "The Church has waited long;" and "Thy way, not mine, O Lord." In addition to these and others which are annotated under their respective first lines, the following are also in common use:— From Songs for the Wilderness, No. 1, 1843. 1. For Thee we long and pray. Sunday Morning. 2. Holy Father, hear my cry. A Child's Prayer. 3. I thought upon my sins and I was sad. Christ our Peace. 4. Peace to the world, our Lord is come. A Millennial Song. 5. Spirit of everlasting grace. The Vision of Dry Bones. ii. From Songs for the Wilderness, No. 2,1844. 6. Ho, ye thirsty, parched and fainting. Invitation. 7. 0 'tis not what we fancied it. The world renounced. 8. Sing them, my children, sing them still. Children exhorted to Praise. 9. Time's sun is fast setting. Advent. 10. Weep, pilgrim, weep, yet 'tis not for the sorrow. Faith. 11. Yes, for me, for me He careth. Christ the Elder Brother . iii. From The Bible Hymn Book, 1845. 12. Jesus, my sorrow lies too deep. Jesus, the Great High Priest. 13. There is a Morning Star, my soul. The Morning Star. 14. This is not my place of resting. Pressing towards heaven. iv. From Hymns, Original and Selected, 1845. 15. Let there be light, Jehovah said. Creation. v. From Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st series, 1857. 16. Be brave, my brother. The Fight of Faith. 17. Blessed be God, our God. Good Friday. 18. Everlasting praises. Doxology. 19. Go up, go up, my heart. Heavenly aspirations desired. 20. I close my heavy eye. Evening. Sometimes given as "We close our heavy eyes." 21. I see the crowd in Pilate's hall. Good Friday. 22. Jesus, while this rongh desert soil. Strength by the Way. 23. Jesus, Whom angel-hosts adore. The Word made Flesh. From "The Son of God, in mighty love." 24. Make haste, 0 man, to live. Exhortation to lay hold of Life. 25. No seas again shall sever. Heaven. 26. Oppressed with noonday's scorching heat. Shadow of the Cross. 27. Rest for the toiling hand. Burial. From "Lie down, frail body, here." 28. Shall this life of mine be wasted? Exhortation to Duty. 29. These are the crowns that we shall wear. Heaven. 30. Thy works, not mine, O Christ [Lord]. The Sin-bearer. 31. Where the faded flower shall freshen. Heaven. vi. From Hymns of Faith and Hope. 2nd series, 1861. 32. Be still, my soul, Jehovah loveth Thee. Rest in the Love of God. 33. Christ has done the mighty work. Good Friday. 34. Come, mighty Spirit, penetrate. Whitsuntide. 35. Deep down beneath the unresting surge. Burial at Sea. 36. Fear not the foe, thou flock of God [thou little flock]. Battle-Song of the Church. 37. For lack of love I languish. Lent. 38. From this bleak hill of storms. Eternal Rest desired. 39. He liveth long who liveth well. The True Life. 40. Here shall death's triumph end: the rock-barred door. Easter. From "The tomb is empty: wouldst thou have it full." 41. Jesus, Sun and Shield art Thou. Jesus the First and Last. 42. Jesus, the Christ of God. Praise to Christ. 43. Light of the world, for ever, ever shining. Christ the Light of the World. From "Why walk in darkness? Has the dear light vanished?" 44. Make use of me, my God. Duty desired. 45. Not what I am, 0 Lord, but what Thou art. The Love of God. 46. 0 Light of Light, shine in. Cry of the Weary. 47. 0 love of God, how strong and true. Love of God. 48. 0 love that casts out fear. Love of God. 49. 0 strong to save and bless. Lent. 50. 0 this soul, how dark and blind. Lent. 51. Safe across the waters. Thanksgiving at end of a journey. 52. Silent, like men in solemn haste. Pressing onwards. 53. Speak, lips of mine. Exhortation to Praise. 54. The Bridegroom comes. Advent. vii. From Hymns of Faith and Hope. 3rd series, 1866. 55. Bear Thou my burden, Thou Who bar'st my sin. Lent or Passiontide. 56. Done is the work that saves. Easter. 57. Father, our children keep. Prayer on behalf of Children. 58. Fill Thou my life, 0 Lord my God. Life's Praise. 59. Finish Thy work, the time is short. Earnest labour to the end. 60. From the Cross the blood is falling. Good Friday. 61. He called them, and they left. Obedience. 62. Help me, my [0] God to speak. Truth desired. 63. Holy Father, Mighty God. Holy Trinity. 64. How are my troubles multiplied. Ps. iii. 65. How sweetly doth He show His face Flower Service. 66. Light hath arisen, we walk in its brightness. Sustaining power of Faith. 67. Lo, God, our God has come. Christmas. 68. Lord, give me light to do Thy work. Divine guidance desired. 69. No, not despairingly. Lent. 70. Not to ourselves again. Life in Christ, or, Living unto God. 71. Now in parting, Father, bless us. Post Communion. 72. Sounds the trumpet from afar. Battle-Song of the Church. 73. Thee in the loving bloom of morn. God in all. 74. Through good report and evil, Lord. Faithfulness. 75. To Jehovah, God of might. Praise to the Father. 76. To the name of God on high. Doxology. 77. Upward, where the stars are burning. Heavenward Aspirations. 78. We take the peace which He hath won. The Gift of Peace. 79. When the weary, seeking rest. Intercession for all Conditions of Men. viii. From The Song of the New Creation,1872. 80. For the Bread and for the Wine. Holy Communion. 81. Light of life so softly shining. Light of Life. 82. Yet there is room. The Lamb's bright hall of song. Home Missions. ix. From Hymns of the Nativity, 1879. 83. Great Ruler of the land and sea. Sailors' Liturgy. From Communion Hymns, 1881. 84. Beloved, let us love. Brotherly Love. In several instances these hymns are given in an abbreviated form, and sometimes alterations are also introduced. In this latter respect however Dr. Bonar has suffered less than most modern hymn-writers. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ==================== Bonar, Horatius, p. 161, i. He died at Edinburgh, July 31, 1889. In 1890 his son published a posthumous volume of his poetical pieces as Until the Day Break and other Hymns and Poems left behind. The following additional hymns are in common use:— 1. Almighty Comforter and Friend. (1866.) Whitsuntide. 2. Father, make use of me. An altered form of No. 44, p. 162, ii. 3. I ask a perfect creed. (1861.) Creed not Opinions. From this is also taken "O True One, give me truth." 4. Long, long deferred, now come at last. Marriage of the Lamb. Part of "Ascend, Beloved, to the joy." (1861.) 5. Nay 'tis not what we fancied it. (1857.) Vanity of the World. 6. No blood, no altar now. (1861.) The Finished Sacrifice. 7. No shadows yonder. (1857.) Heaven Anticipated. 8. Not with the light and vain. (1857.) Godly Companionship. 9. O Love invisible, yet infinite. (1866.) Divine Love. 10. On the great love of God I lean. (1866.) Love of God our Resting-place. 11. On Thee, O Jesus, strongly leaning. (1866.) Fellowship with Christ. 12. Peace upon peace, like wave on wave. (1866.) Divine Peace. 13. Sower divine, sow the good seed in me. (1857.) Heavenly Sowing. 14. Speaketh the sinner's sin within my heart. (1866.) Ps. xxxvi. 15. Still one in life and one in death. (1857.) Communion of Saints. Part of "'Tis thus they press the hand and part." 16. Surely, yon heaven, where angels see God's face. (1857.) Heaven Anticipated. 17. That city with the jewelled crest. (1857.) Heaven. Part of "These are the crowns that we shall wear." Another cento from the same is "Yon city, with the jewelled crest." 18. That clime is not like this dull clime of ours. (1843.) Heaven. 19. The Free One makes you free: He breaks the rod. (1857.) Freedom in Christ. From "Of old they sang the song of liberty." 20. There is a Morning-star, my soul. (1357.) Christ the Morning Star. 21. This is the day of toil. (1866.) Pressing Onwards. 22. Thy thoughts are here, my God. (1866.) Holy Scripture. 23. Till the day dawn. (1857.) Life's Journey. 24. To Him Who spread the skies. (1866.) Creation's Song. 25. Trustingly, trustingly. (1866.) Trust. 26. Unto th' eternal hills. (1866.) Ps. cxxi. The above dates are: 1843, Songs in the Wilderness; 1857, Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1st Series; 1861, same, 2nd Ser. (not 1864); 1866, same, 3rd Ser. (not 1867), The dates 1857, 1864,1867, were given by Dr. Bonar, but the British Museum copies are 1857, 1861, 1866 respectively. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ============== Bonar, H., pp. 161, i.; 1554, i. The Rev. H. N. Bonar, Dr. Bonar's son, published in 1904, Hymns by Horatius Bonar, Selected and Arranged by his Son H. N. Bonar, With a brief History of some of the Hymns, &c. (London: H. Frowde). From this work we must correct the date of his Song of the New Creation to 1872. We have also enriched our pages by additional and expanded notes on several of Dr. Bonar's most widely used hymns. In his biographical notes, Mr. Bonar refers to Dr. Bonar's work as editor of the Quarterly Journal of Prophecy, begun in 1848, to which he contributed a hymn for each number. We find that the number of hymns contributed thereto is 101. With Dr. Bonar's poetical productions great difficulty has been encountered by the historian and annotator because of his absolute indifference to dates and details. It was enough for him that he had written, and that the Church of Christ approved and gladly used what, out of the fulness of his heart, he had given her. --Excerpt from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Walter C. Smith

1824 - 1908 Person Name: Walter Chalmers Smith, 1824-1908 Hymnal Number: 769 Author of "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" in Worship Supplement Smith, Walter Chalmer, D.D., was born at Aberdeen Dec. 5, 1824, and educated at the Grammar School and University of that City. He pursued his Theological studies at Edinburgh, and was ordained Pastor of the Scottish Church in Chad well Street, Islington, London, Dec. 25, 1850. After holding several pastorates he became, in 1876, Minister of the Free High Church, Edinburgh. His contributions to poetical literature have been many and of great merit. His principal works are:— (1) The Bishop's Walk, 1860; (2) Olrig Grange, 1872; (3) Borland Hall, 1874; (4) Hilda among the Broken Gods, 1878; (5) North Country Folk, 1883; (6) Kildrostan, 1884; (7) Hymns of Christ and Christian Life, 1876. From his Hymns of Christ, &c, 1876, the following, after revision, were included in Horder's Congregational Hymns, 1884 :— 1. Immortal, Invisible, God only wise. God, All in All. 2. Lord, God, Omnipotent. Omnipotence. 3. Our portion is not here. Treasure in Heaven. 4. There is no wrath to be appeased. God is Love. In Horder's Congregational Hymns a new opening stanza was added to this hymn by Dr. Smith at the request of the editor, and in that collection the hymn begins "I vexed me with a troubled thought." Dr. Smith's hymns are rich in thought and vigorous in expression. They deserve and probably will receive greater notice than hitherto at the hands of hymnal compilers. [Rev. W. Garrett Horder] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Smith, W. C., p. 1064, i. The following additional hymns by Dr. Smith have come into common use, mainly through The Baptist Church Hymnal, 1900:— 1. Earth was waiting, spent and restless. Christmas. 2. Faint and weary Jesus stood. Our Lord's Temptation. 3. If any to the feast have come. Holy Communion. 4. The Lord hath hid His face from us. Providence. 5. To me to live is Christ. Union with Christ. These hymns appeared in his Hymns of Christ and the Christian Life, 1867, pp. Ill, 122, 241, 10, and 36, respectively. A collected ed. of his Poetical Works (not including his hymns) appeared in 1902. Other hymns that have come into use are:— 1. Gird your loins about with truth. Manliness. 2. Jesus, unto Whom we pray. Christ the Way. 3. One thing I of the Lord desire. Consecration. Nos. 1, 3 are from his Thoughts and Fancies for Sunday Evenings, 1887, pp. 3, 84. No. 2 is from his Hymns of Christ, 1867, p. 31. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Phillips Brooks

1835 - 1893 Person Name: Phillips Brooks, 1835-93 Hymnal Number: 715 Author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in Worship Supplement Brooks, Phillips, D.D., was born at Boston, Dec. 13, 1835, graduated at Harvard College 1855, and was ordained in 1859. Successively Rector of the Church of the Advent, Philadelphia, and Trinity Church, Boston, he became Bishop of Mass. in 1891, and died at Boston in Jan., 1893. His Carol, "O little town of Bethlehem," was written for his Sunday School in 1868, the author having spent Christmas, 1866, at Bethlehem. His hymn, "God hath sent His angels to the earth again," is dated 1877. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

348 - 410 Person Name: Aurelius Prudentius, 348-c. 413 Hymnal Number: 721 Author of "Of the Father's Love Begotten" in Worship Supplement Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, "The Christian Pindar" was born in northern Spain, a magistrate whose religious convictions came late in life. His subsequent sacred poems were literary and personal, not, like those of St. Ambrose, designed for singing. Selections from them soon entered the Mozarabic rite, however, and have since remained exquisite treasures of the Western churches. His Cathemerinon liber, Peristephanon, and Psychomachia were among the most widely read books of the Middle Ages. A concordance to his works was published by the Medieval Academy of America in 1932. There is a considerable literature on his works. --The Hymnal 1940 Companion ============= Prudentius, Aurelius Clemens , with the occasional prefix of Marcus (cf. Migne, vol. lix. p. 593, and Dressel, p. ii. n), is the name of the most prominent and most prolific author of sacred Latin poetry in its earliest days. Of the writer himself we know nothing, or next to nothing, beyond what he has himself told us in a short introduction in verse to his works. From that source we learn that he was a Spaniard, of good family evidently, and that he was born A.D. 348 somewhere in the north of Spain, either at Saragossa, Tarragona, or Calahorra, but at which is left uncertain, by his applying the same expression to all, which if applied only to one would have fixed his place of birth. After receiving a good education befitting his social status he applied himself for some years to practising as a pleader in the local courts of law, until he received promotion to a judgeship in two cities successively:— "Bis legum moderanrine Frenos nobilium reximus urbium Jus civile bonis reddidimus, terruimus reos;" and afterwards to a post of still higher authority: "Tandem militiae gradu Evectum pietas principis extulit." Archbishop Trench considers this last to have been "a high military appointment at court," and such the poet's own words would seem to describe; but it may well be doubted whether a civilian and a lawyer would be eligible for such employment; in which case we may adopt the solution of the difficulty offered in the Prolegomena to our author's works (Migne, vol. lix. p. 601):— "Evectus indeest ad superiorem rnilitia? gradum, nimirum militia? civil is, palatinae, aut praesidialis, non bellicae, castrensis, aut cohortalis; nam ii qui officiis jure consultorum praesidum, rectorum et similium funguntur, vulgo in cod. Theod. militare et ad superiores militias ascendere dicuntur." It was after this lengthened experience at a comparatively early age of positions of trust and power that Prudentius, conscience-smitten on account of the follies and worldliness that had marked his youth and earlier manhood, determined to throw up all his secular employments, and devote the remainder of his life to advancing the interests of Christ's Church by the power of his pen rather than that of his purse and personal position. Accordingly we find that he retired in his 57th year into poverty and private life, and began that remarkable succession of sacred poems upon which his fame now entirely rests. We have no reason however to regard him as another St. Augustine, rescued from the "wretchedness of most unclean living" by this flight from the temptations and engrossing cares of official life into the calm seclusion of a wholly devotional leisure. He had probably rather learnt from sad experience the emptiness and vanity for an immortal soul of the surroundings of even the high places of this world. As he himself expresses it:— "Numquid talia proderunt Carnis post obitum vel bona, vel mala, Cum jam, quicquid id est, quod fueram, mors aboleverit?" and sought, at the cost of all that the world holds dear, those good things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. Beyond the fact of his retirement from the world in this way, and the fruits which it produced in the shape of his voluminous contributions to sacred poetry, we have no further information about our author. To judge from the amount he wrote, his life must have been extended many years after he began his new career, but how long his life was or where he died we are not told. Probably he died circa 413. His works are:— (1) Liber Cathemerinon. "Christian Day, as we may call it" W. S. Lilly, "Chapters in European History," vol. i. p. 208). (2) Liber Peristephanon. "Martyrs' Garlands" (id.). (3) Apotheosis. A work on the Divine Nature, or the Deification of Human Nature in Christ. (4) Hamartigenia. A treatise on the Origin of Sin, directed against the Marcionites. (5) Psychomachia or "The Spiritual Combat"-—an allegorical work. (6) Libri contra Symmachum. A controversial work against the restoration in the Senate House at Rome of the altar of Victory which Gratian had removed. Symmachus had petitioned Valentinian II. for its restoration in 384, but the influence of St. Ambrose had prevailed against him at that time. In 392 the altar was restored, but removed again by Theodosius in 394. After the death of the latter the attempt to restore it was renewed by Arcadius and Honorius, and it was at that time that Prudentius wrote his first book. The second (for there are two) was written in 405. Fague considers that the first may date in 395. (7) The Dittochseon = the double food or double Testament, is a wordy collection of 49 sets of four verses each, on Old and New Testament scenes. Of these different works the most important are the first two, and it is from them that the Liturgical hymns enumerated below have been chiefly compiled. The general character of Prudentius's writings it is not easy fairly to estimate, and to judge by the wholesale laudation he obtains from some of his critics, and the equally unsparing censure of others, his judges have so found it. In venturing upon any opinion upon such a subject, the reader must bear in mind the peculiar position in which the period at which he was writing found the poet. The poetry of classical Rome in all its exact beauty of form had long passed its meridian, and was being replaced by a style which was yet in its infancy, but which burst forth into new life and beauty in the hands of the Mediaeval hymnologists. Prudentius wrote before rhyming Latin verse was thought of, but after attention had ceased to be given to quantities. Under such circumstances it were vain to look for very finished work from him, and such certainly we do not find. But amidst a good deal of what one must confess is tasteless verbiage or clumsy rhetorical ornament-—however varied the metres he employs, numbering some 17—-there are also passages to be found, not unfrequently, of dramatic vigour and noble expression, which may well hold their own with the more musical utterances of a later date. He writes as a man intensely in earnest, and we may gather much from his writings concerning the points of conduct which were deemed the most important in Christian living at a time when a great portion of mankind were still the victims or slaves of a morality which, heathen at the best, was lowered and corrupted the more as the universality of its influence was more and more successfully challenged by the spread of the Gospel of Christ. If, there¬fore, we can scarcely go as far in our author's praise as Barth—-much given to lavish commendation—-who describes him as "Poeta eximius eruditissimus et sanctissimus scriptor; nemo divinius de rebus Christianis unquam scripsit"; or as Bentley—-not given to praise--who calls him the "Horace and Virgil of the Christians," we shall be as loath, considering under what circumstances he wrote, to carp at his style as not being formed on the best ancient models but as confessedly impure; feeling with Archbishop Trench that it is his merit that "whether consciously or unconsciously, he acted on the principle that the new life claimed new forms in which to manifest itself; that he did not shrink from helping forward that great transformation of the Latin language, which it needed to undergo, now that it should be the vehicle of truths which, were all together novel to it." (Sacred Latin Poetry, 1874, p. 121.) The reader will find so exhaustive an account of the various writings of Prudentius in the account given of him and them in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography, and Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, that it is only necessary in this work to refer very briefly to them as above. The poems have been constantly reprinted and re-edited, till the editor who produced the best edition we have of them, Albert Dressel (Leipsic, 1860), is able to say that his is the sixty-third. The use made of Prudentius's poems in the ancient Breviaries and Hymnaries was very extensive. In the form of centos stanzas and lines wore compiled and used as hymns; and it is mainly from these centos, and not from the original poems, that the translations into English were made. Daniel, i., Nos. 103-115, gives 13 genuine hymns as having been in use for "Morning," "Christmas," "Epiphany," "Lent," "Easter," "Transfiguration," "Burial," &c, in the older Breviaries. ….Many more which were used in like manner have been translated into English. When to these are added the hymns and those which have not been translated into English, we realise the position and power of Prudentius in the hymnody of the Church. [Rev. Digby S. Wrangham, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============== Prudentius, A. C, p. 915, ii. Two somewhat full versions of Prudentius are: (1) The Cathemerinon and other Poems of Aurelius Prudentius Clemens in English Verse, Lond., Rivington, 1845; and (2) Translations from Prudentius. By Francis St. John Thackeray, M.A.. F.S.A. Lond., Bell & Sons, 1890. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Ralph Vaughan Williams

1872 - 1958 Person Name: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958 Hymnal Number: 743 Composer of "KING'S WESTON" in Worship Supplement Through his composing, conducting, collecting, editing, and teaching, Ralph Vaughan Williams (b. Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, England, October 12, 1872; d. Westminster, London, England, August 26, 1958) became the chief figure in the realm of English music and church music in the first half of the twentieth century. His education included instruction at the Royal College of Music in London and Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as additional studies in Berlin and Paris. During World War I he served in the army medical corps in France. Vaughan Williams taught music at the Royal College of Music (1920-1940), conducted the Bach Choir in London (1920-1927), and directed the Leith Hill Music Festival in Dorking (1905-1953). A major influence in his life was the English folk song. A knowledgeable collector of folk songs, he was also a member of the Folksong Society and a supporter of the English Folk Dance Society. Vaughan Williams wrote various articles and books, including National Music (1935), and composed numerous arrangements of folk songs; many of his compositions show the impact of folk rhythms and melodic modes. His original compositions cover nearly all musical genres, from orchestral symphonies and concertos to choral works, from songs to operas, and from chamber music to music for films. Vaughan Williams's church music includes anthems; choral-orchestral works, such as Magnificat (1932), Dona Nobis Pacem (1936), and Hodie (1953); and hymn tune settings for organ. But most important to the history of hymnody, he was music editor of the most influential British hymnal at the beginning of the twentieth century, The English Hymnal (1906), and coeditor (with Martin Shaw) of Songs of Praise (1925, 1931) and the Oxford Book of Carols (1928). Bert Polman

Orlando Gibbons

1583 - 1625 Person Name: Orlando Gibbons, 1583-1625 Hymnal Number: 775 Composer of "SONG 34" in Worship Supplement Orlando Gibbons (baptised 25 December 1583 – 5 June 1625) was an English composer, virginalist and organist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean periods. He was a leading composer in the England of his day. Gibbons was born in Cambridge and christened at Oxford the same year – thus appearing in Oxford church records. Between 1596 and 1598 he sang in the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, where his brother Edward Gibbons (1568–1650), eldest of the four sons of William Gibbons, was master of the choristers. The second brother Ellis Gibbons (1573–1603) was also a promising composer, but died young. Orlando entered the university in 1598 and achieved the degree of Bachelor of Music in 1606. James I appointed him a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, where he served as an organist from at least 1615 until his death. In 1623 he became senior organist at the Chapel Royal, with Thomas Tomkins as junior organist. He also held positions as keyboard player in the privy chamber of the court of Prince Charles (later King Charles I), and organist at Westminster Abbey. He died at age 41 in Canterbury of apoplexy, and a monument to him was built in Canterbury Cathedral. A suspicion immediately arose that Gibbons had died of the plague, which was rife in England that year. Two physicians who had been present at his death were ordered to make a report, and performed an autopsy, the account of which survives in The National Archives: We whose names are here underwritten: having been called to give our counsels to Mr. Orlando Gibbons; in the time of his late and sudden sickness, which we found in the beginning lethargical, or a profound sleep; out of which, we could never recover him, neither by inward nor outward medicines, & then instantly he fell in most strong, & sharp convulsions; which did wring his mouth up to his ears, & his eyes were distorted, as though they would have been thrust out of his head & then suddenly he lost both speech, sight and hearing, & so grew apoplectical & lost the whole motion of every part of his body, & so died. Then here upon (his death being so sudden) rumours were cast out that he did die of the plague, whereupon we . . . caused his body to be searched by certain women that were sworn to deliver the truth, who did affirm that they never saw a fairer corpse. Yet notwithstanding we to give full satisfaction to all did cause the skull to be opened in our presence & we carefully viewed the body, which we found also to be very clean without any show or spot of any contagious matter. In the brain we found the whole & sole cause of his sickness namely a great admirable blackness & syderation in the outside of the brain. Within the brain (being opened) there did issue out abundance of water intermixed with blood & this we affirm to be the only cause of his sudden death. His death was a shock to peers and the suddenness of his passing drew comment more for the haste of his burial – and of its location at Canterbury rather than the body being returned to London. His wife, Elizabeth, died a little over a year later, aged in her mid-30s, leaving Orlando's eldest brother, Edward, to care for the children left orphans by this event. Of these children only the eldest son, Christopher Gibbons, went on to become a musician. One of the most versatile English composers of his time, Gibbons wrote a quantity of keyboard works, around thirty fantasias for viols, a number of madrigals (the best-known being "The Silver Swan"), and many popular verse anthems. His choral music is distinguished by his complete mastery of counterpoint, combined with his wonderful gift for melody. Perhaps his most well known verse anthem is This is the record of John, which sets an Advent text for solo countertenor or tenor, alternating with full chorus. The soloist is required to demonstrate considerable technical facility at points, and the work at once expresses the rhetorical force of the text, whilst never being demonstrative or bombastic. He also produced two major settings of Evensong, the Short Service and the Second Service. The former includes a beautifully expressive Nunc dimittis, while the latter is an extended composition, combining verse and full sections. Gibbons's full anthems include the expressive O Lord, in thy wrath, and the Ascension Day anthem O clap your hands together for eight voices. He contributed six pieces to the first printed collection of keyboard music in England, Parthenia (to which he was by far the youngest of the three contributors), published in about 1611. Gibbons's surviving keyboard output comprises some 45 pieces. The polyphonic fantasia and dance forms are the best represented genres. Gibbons's writing exhibits full mastery of three- and four-part counterpoint. Most of the fantasias are complex, multisectional pieces, treating multiple subjects imitatively. Gibbons's approach to melody in both fantasias and dances features a capability for almost limitless development of simple musical ideas, on display in works such as Pavane in D minor and Lord Salisbury's Pavan and Galliard. In the 20th century, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould championed Gibbons's music, and named him as his favorite composer. Gould wrote of Gibbons's hymns and anthems: "ever since my teen-age years this music ... has moved me more deeply than any other sound experience I can think of." In one interview, Gould compared Gibbons to Beethoven and Webern: ...despite the requisite quota of scales and shakes in such half-hearted virtuoso vehicles as the Salisbury Galliard, one is never quite able to counter the impression of music of supreme beauty that lacks its ideal means of reproduction. Like Beethoven in his last quartets, or Webern at almost any time, Gibbons is an artist of such intractable commitment that, in the keyboard field, at least, his works work better in one's memory, or on paper, than they ever can through the intercession of a sounding-board. To this day, Gibbons's obit service is commemorated every year in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. --wikipedia.org

John Brownlie

1857 - 1925 Person Name: John Brownie, 1859-1925 Hymnal Number: 707 Author of "The King Shall Come when Morning Dawns" in Worship Supplement Brownlie, John, was born at Glasgow, Aug. 6, 1857, and was educated at Glasgow University, and at the Free Church College in the same city. In 1884 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Glasgow; in 1885 he became Assistant Minister of the Free Church, Portpatrick, and on the death of the Senior Minister in 1890 he entered upon the full charge of the Church there. He has interested himself in educational matters, became a Member of the local School Board in 1888, a governor of Stranraer High School in 1897, and Chairman of the governors in 1901. His hymnological works are:— 1. The Hymns and Hymnwriters of the [Scottish] Church Hymnary, 1899. This is a biographical, historical, and critical companion to that hymnal, and is well done and accurate. 2. Hymns of Our Pilgrimage, 1889; Zionward; Hymns of the Pilgrim Life, 1890; and Pilgrim Songs, 1892. These are original hymns. The Rest of God, 1894, a poem in three parts. 3. Hymns of the Early Church, Being Translations from the Poetry of the Latin Church, arranged in the Order of the Christian Year . . . 1896. 4. Hymns from East and West, Being Translations from the Poetry of the Latin and Greek Churches . . . 1898. 5. Hymns of the Greek Church, Translated with Introduction and Notes, 1900. Second Series: Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church, Translated from the Service Books, with Introductory Chapters on the History, Doctrine and Worship of the Church, 1902. Third Series: Hymns from the Greek Office Books, Together with Centos and Suggestions, 1904. Fourth Series: Hymns from the East, Being Centos and Suggestions from the Office Books of the Holy Eastern Church, 1906. Of Mr. Brownlie's original hymns the following have come into common use:— 1. Ever onward, ever upward. Aspiration. From Pilgrim Songs, 3rd Series, 1892, p. 11. 2. Girt with heavenly armour. The Armour of God. Pilgrim Songs, 3rd Series, 1892, p. 49. 3. Hark! the voice of angels. Praise. Pilgrim Songs, 3rd Series, 1892, p. 57. 4. O bind me with Thy bonds, my Lord. The Divine Yoke. From Hymns of our Pilgrimage, 1889, p. 27. 5. O God, Thy glory gilds the sun. Adoration. From Zionward, &c, 1890, p. 33. 6. Spake my heart by sorrow smitten. Seeking God. From Pilgrim Songs, 3rd series, 1892, p. 25. 7. The flowers have closed their eyes. Evening Pilgrim Songs, 3rd series, 1892, p. 6tf. 8. There is a song which the angels sing. The Angels' Song. A cento from the poem The Best of God, 1894, p. 36. 9. Thou art my Portion, saith my soul. God, the Portion of His People. From Pilgrim Songs, 1892, p. 45. 10. Close beside the heart that loves me. Resting in God. This is one of the author's "Suggestions " based upon the spirit rather than the words of portions of the Greek Offices. It was given in Hymns of the Holy Eastern Church, 1902, p. 128. Mr. Brownlie's translations from the Latin have been adopted in the hymnals to a limited extent only, mainly because the ground had been so extensively and successfully covered by former translators. With the translations from the Greek the case was different, as for popular use few translations were available in addition to the well known and widely used renderings by Dr. Neale. Mr. Brownlie's translations have all the beauty, simplicity, earnestness, and elevation of thought and feeling which characterise the originals. Their suitability for general use is evidenced in the fact that the number found in the most recently published hymn-books, including Church Hymns, 1903, The New Office Hymn Book, 1905, and The English Hymnal, 1906, almost equal in number those by Dr. Neale. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

William Owen

1813 - 1893 Person Name: William Owen, 1814-93 Hymnal Number: 764 Composer of "BRYN CALFARIA" in Worship Supplement Owen, William (‘William Owen of Prysgol,’ 1813-1893), musician; b. 12? Dec. 1813 [in Lônpopty], Bangor, the son of William and Ellen Owen. The father was a quarryman at Cae Braich-y-cafn quarry, Bethesda, and the son began to work in the same quarry when he was ten years old. He learnt music at classes held by Robert Williams (Cae Aseth), at Carneddi, and from William Roberts, Tyn-y-maes, the composer of the hymn-tune ‘Andalusia.’ He wrote his first hymn-tune when he was 18 — it was published in Y Drysorfa for June 1841. After the family had [removed] to [Caesguborwen], Bangor, [sometimes called Cilmelyn] — they had spent some years [at Tŷhen] near the quarry — William Owen formed a temperance choir which sang ‘Cwymp Babilon,’ the work of the conductor, at the Caernarvon temperance festival, 1849. In 1852, with the help of some friends at Bethesda, he published Y Perl Cerddorol yn cynnwys tonau ac anthemau, cysegredig a moesol; of this 3,000 copies were sold, A solfa edition appeared in 1886 of which 4,000 copies were sold. He composed several temperance pieces, some of which were sung in the Eryri temperance festivals held at Caernarvon castle. His anthem, ‘Ffynnon Ddisglair,’ and the hymn-tunes ALMA and DEEMSTER became popular, but it was the hymn-tune called BRYN CALFARIA which made the composer famous; this continues to have a considerable vogue in Wales and in England. He married the daughter of the house called Prysgol and went there to live; he also became precentor at Caeathro C.M. chapel. He died 20 July 1893, and was buried in Caeathro chapel burial ground. --wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/