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D. B. Towner

1850 - 1919 Person Name: Daniel B. Towner Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Composer of "MOODY" in Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) Used pseudonyms Robert Beverly, T. R. Bowden ============================== Towner, Daniel B. (Rome, Pennsylvania, 1850--1919). Attended grade school in Rome, Penn. when P.P. Bliss was teacher. Later majored in music, joined D.L. Moody, and in 1893 became head of the music department at Moody Bible Institute. Author of more than 2,000 songs. --Paul Milburn, DNAH Archives

Avis B. Christiansen

1895 - 1985 Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Author of "Blessed Redeemer" in Baptist Hymnal 1991 Avis Marguerite Burgeson was born in 1895 and lived in Chicago all her life. She attended the Moody Church, pastored for many years by Dr. Harry Ironside. In 1917, Avis Burgeson married Ernest Christiansen who later became a vice president of Moody Bible Institute. She was a modest and retiring woman, and sometimes used pen names: Avis Burgesson, Christian B. Anson and Constance B. Reid. She began writing poems in childhood, and before her death in 1985 had written thousands of them. She died in 1985. NN, Hymnary

Keith Getty

b. 1974 Person Name: Keith Getty, b. 1974 Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Author of "Still, My Soul, Be Still" in Christian Worship Keith Getty (b. December 16, 1974) is a world-renowned modern hymn writer. Keith developed a passion for writing good songs for the church in his twenties, and began writing for his small Baptist church. He writes and performs with his wife, Kristyn and they regularly tour the United States and the United Kingdom. (Also known as Julian Keith Getty) Laura de Jong

John R. Sweney

1837 - 1899 Person Name: Jno. R. Sweney Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Composer of "[Light in our darkness, hope in our fear]" John R. Sweney (1837-1899) was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and exhibited musical abilities at an early age. At nineteen he was studying with a German music teacher, leading a choir and glee club, and performing at children’s entertainments. By twenty-two he was teaching at a school in Dover, Delaware. Soon thereafter, he was put in charge of the band of the Third Delaware Regiment of the Union Army for the duration of the Civil War. After the war, he became Professor of Music at the Pennsylvania Military Academy, and director of Sweney’s Cornet Band. He eventually earned Bachelor and Doctor of Music degrees at the Academy. Sweney began composing church music in 1871 and became well-known as a leader of large congregations. His appreciators stated “Sweney knows how to make a congregation sing” and “He had great power in arousing multitudes.” He also became director of music for a large Sunday school at the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia of which John Wanamaker was superintendent (Wanamaker was the founder of the first major department store in Philadelphia). In addition to his prolific output of hymn melodies and other compositions, Sweney edited or co-edited about sixty song collections, many in collaboration with William J. Kirkpatrick. Sweney died on April 10, 1899, and his memorial was widely attended and included a eulogy by Wanamaker. Joe Hickerson from "Joe's Jottings #9" used by permission

Shirley Erena Murray

1931 - 2020 Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Author of "It Is Time! (A Song about White Poppies for Peace)" in New Hymns of Hope Shirley Erena Murray (b. Invercargill, New Zealand, 1931) studied music as an undergraduate but received a master’s degree (with honors) in classics and French from Otago University. Her upbringing was Methodist, but she became a Presbyterian when she married the Reverend John Stewart Murray, who was a moderator of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. Shirley began her career as a teacher of languages, but she became more active in Amnesty International, and for eight years she served the Labor Party Research Unit of Parliament. Her involvement in these organizations has enriched her writing of hymns, which address human rights, women’s concerns, justice, peace, the integrity of creation, and the unity of the church. Many of her hymns have been performed in CCA and WCC assemblies. In recognition for her service as a writer of hymns, the New Zealand government honored her as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit on the Queen’s birthday on 3 June 2001. Through Hope Publishing House, Murray has published three collections of her hymns: In Every Corner Sing (eighty-four hymns, 1992), Everyday in Your Spirit (forty-one hymns, 1996), and Faith Makes the Song (fifty hymns, 2002). The New Zealand Hymnbook Trust, for which she worked for a long time, has also published many of her texts (cf. back cover, Faith Makes the Song). In 2009, Otaga University conferred on her an honorary doctorate in literature for her contribution to the art of hymn writing. I-to Loh, Hymnal Companion to “Sound the Bamboo”: Asian Hymns in Their Cultural and Liturgical Context, p. 468, ©2011 GIA Publications, Inc., Chicago

Anonymous

Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Author of "Come Now, and Lift Up Your Hearts " in Psalms for All Seasons In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries.

Patrick Matsikenyiri

1937 - 2021 Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Translator (English) of "Ndai Wona Hama Yakanaka (I Have a Good Friend)" in Njalo

Homer A. Hammontree

1884 - 1965 Person Name: Homer Hammontree Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Composer of "HAMMONTREE" in Hymns for the Living Church Homer Hammontree was born March 3, 1884, to Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Hammontree of Greenback, Tennessee. He graduated from nearby Maryville College in 1909 and, after teaching for a short time at local institutions, attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. During World War I, Hammontree served as evangelist Mel Trotter's song leader, as together they toured U.S. army camps. They continued to work together for the next nineteen years. He also worked with Billy Sunday and Homer Rodeheaver. In 1936, Hammontree returned to Moody as head of the Music Department. He remained in this post until 1942. The same year he received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from his old alma mater, Maryville College. During World War II, he again toured the army camps and sang at evangelistic services. After the war, he both conducted his own evangelistic services and worked with other ministers, such as Paul Beckwith and Howard Hermansen. He left Chicago in 1958 and moved back to Tennessee, where he died February 2, 1965. --www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/sc040.htm

Phoebe Palmer Knapp

1839 - 1908 Person Name: Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908) Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Composer of "BLESSED ASSURANCE" in Church Hymnary (4th ed.) As a young girl Phoebe Palmer Knapp (b. New York, NY, 1839; d. Poland Springs, ME, 1908) displayed great musical talent; she composed and sang children’s song at an early age. The daughter of the Methodist evangelist Walter C. Palmer, she was married to John Fairfield Knapp at the age of sixteen. Her husband was a founder of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and after his death, she shared her considerable inherited wealth with various charitable organizations. She composed over five hundred gospel songs, of which the tunes for “Blessed Assurance” and “Open the Gates of the Temple” are still popular today. Bert Polman

Howard S. Olson

1922 - 2010 Person Name: Howard S. Olson, b. 1922 Meter: 9.9.9.9 with refrain Translator of "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia" in With One Voice Howard Olson (b. 1922; d. 2010), longtime missionary/teacher in African, compiled a number of African songs in Set Free (Augsburg Fortress, 1993). Many were folk tunes to which Christian Swahili texts were later added. He wrote in the introduction: “In their original form these tunes wee sung with uninhibited improvisation. Consequently the form in which these songs appear in this book represents only one of several possibilities.” Sing! A New Creation