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Elkanah Kelsay Dare

1782 - 1826 Person Name: Elkanah Kelsey Dare Composer (attributed to) of "MORNING SONG" in Lift Up Your Hearts Elkanah Kelsey Dare (1782-1826) was born in New Jersey but moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania sometime before 1818. He was a Methodist [sic Presbyterian] minister and very possibly the music editor for John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second (1813), a shaped-note collection that includes more than a dozen of his tunes. Emily Brink

Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Person Name: L. Mason Composer of "NAOMI" in The Book of Praise for Sunday Schools Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) is justly called the father of American church music; and by his labors were founded the germinating principles of national musical intelligence and knowledge, which afforded a soil upon which all higher musical culture has been founded. To him we owe some of our best ideas in religious church music, elementary musical education, music in the schools, the popularization of classical chorus singing, and the art of teaching music upon the Inductive or Pestalozzian plan. More than that, we owe him no small share of the respect which the profession of music enjoys at the present time as contrasted with the contempt in which it was held a century or more ago. In fact, the entire art of music, as now understood and practiced in America, has derived advantage from the work of this great man. Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Mass., January 8, 1792. From childhood he had manifested an intense love for music, and had devoted all his spare time and effort to improving himself according to such opportunities as were available to him. At the age of twenty he found himself filling a clerkship in a banking house in Savannah, Ga. Here he lost no opportunity of gratifying his passion for musical advancement, and was fortunate to meet for the first time a thoroughly qualified instructor, in the person of F. L. Abel. Applying his spare hours assiduously to the cultivation of the pursuit to which his passion inclined him, he soon acquired a proficiency that enabled him to enter the field of original composition, and his first work of this kind was embodied in the compilation of a collection of church music, which contained many of his own compositions. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and by its committee was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was finally published in 1822 as The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains, "I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn Society, sold the copyright for the young man. Mr. Mason went back to Savannah with probably $500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit. The book soon sprang into universal popularity, being at once adopted by the singing schools of New England, and through this means entering into the church choirs, to whom it opened up a higher field of harmonic beauty. Its career of success ran through some seventeen editions. On realizing this success, Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn Society, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2,000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of music at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank. In 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him as has been already stated the title of "The Father of American Church Music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mr. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surroundings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection: "It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and churchlike and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable and melodious. Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says, "First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them." The personality of Dr. Mason was of great use to the art and appreciation of music in this country. He was of strong mind, dignified manners, sensitive, yet sweet and engaging. Prof. Horace Mann, one of the great educators of that day, said he would walk fifty miles to see and hear Mr. Mason teach if he could not otherwise have that advantage. Dr. Mason visited a number of the music schools in Europe, studied their methods, and incorporated the best things in his own work. He founded the Boston Academy of Music. The aim of this institution was to reach the masses and introduce music into the public schools. Dr. Mason resided in Boston from 1826 to 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly traveling to other societies in distant cities and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Mass., and he went in his later years as far as Rochester, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1810 he had developed his idea of "Teachers' Conventions," and, as in these he had representatives from different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals. As a composer of solid, enduring church music. Dr. Mason was one of the most successful this country has introduced. He was a deeply pious man, and was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Mason in 1817 married Miss Abigail Gregory, of Leesborough, Mass. The family consisted of four sons, Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. The two former founded the publishing house of Mason Bros., dissolved by the death of the former in 19G9. Lowell and Henry were the founders of the great organ manufacturer of Mason & Hamlin. Dr. William Mason was one of the most eminent musicians that America has yet produced. Dr. Lowell Mason died at "Silverspring," a beautiful residence on the side of Orange Mountain, New Jersey, August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College. --Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

Anonymous

Composer of "ST. FLAVIAN" in The Cyber Hymnal 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.

Thomas Haweis

1734 - 1820 Person Name: Thomas Haweis, 1734-1820 Composer of "RICHMOND" in The Covenant Hymnal Thomas Haweis (b. Redruth, Cornwall, England, 1734; d. Bath, England, 1820) Initially apprenticed to a surgeon and pharmacist, Haweis decided to study for the ministry at Oxford and was ordained in the Church of England in 1757. He served as curate of St. Mary Magdalen Church, Oxford, but was removed by the bishop from that position because of his Methodist leanings. He also was an assistant to Martin Madan at Locke Hospital, London. In 1764 he became rector of All Saints Church in Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, and later served as administrator at Trevecca College, Wales, a school founded by the Countess of Huntingdon, whom Haweis served as chaplain. After completing advanced studies at Cambridge, he published a Bible commentary and a volume on church history. Haweis was strongly interested in missions and helped to found the London Mission Society. His hymn texts and tunes were published in Carmino Christo, or Hymns to the Savior (1792, expanded 1808). Bert Polman ============================ Haweis, Thomas, LL.B., M.D., born at Truro, Cornwall, 1732. After practising for a time as a Physician, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated. Taking Holy Orders, he became Assistant Preacher to M. Madan at the Lock Hospital, London, and subsequently Rector of All Saints, Aldwincle, Northamptonshire. He was also Chaplain to Lady Huntingdon, and for several years officiated at her Chapel in Bath. He died at Bath, Feb. 11, 1820. He published several prose works, including A History of the Church, A Translation of the New Testament, and A Commentary on the Holy Bible. His hymns, a few of which are of more than ordinary merit, were published in his Carmina Christo; or, Hymns to the Saviour. Designed for the Use and Comfort of Those who worship the Lamb that was slain. Bath, S. Hayward, 1792 (139 hymns), enlarged. London, 1808 (256 hymns). In 1794, or sometime after, but before the enlarged edition was published, two hymns "For the Fast-day, Feb. 28, 1794," were added to the first edition. These were, "Big with events, another year," and "Still o'er the deep the cannon's roar." The most popular and widely used of his hymns are, "Behold the Lamb of God, Who bore," &c.; "Enthroned on high, Almighty Lord"; and “O Thou from Whom all goodness flows." The rest, all being from Carmina Christo, first edition 1792, are:— 1. Dark was the night and cold the ground. Gethsemane. 2. From the cross uplifted high. Christ in Glory. 3. Great Spirit, by Whose mighty power. Whitsuntide. 4. Submissive to Thy will, my God. Resignation. 5. The happy morn is come. Easter. 6. Thou Lamb of God, that on the tree. Good Friday. The hymn, "Thy Head, the crown of thorns that wears," in Stryker & Main's Church Praise Book, N. Y., 1882, begins with st. ii. of this hymn. 7. To Thee, my God and Saviour, My heart, &c. Praise for Redemption. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

John Bacchus Dykes

1823 - 1876 Person Name: J. B. Dykes Composer of "ST. AGNES" in Hymnal for the Sunday School As a young child John Bacchus Dykes (b. Kingston-upon-Hull' England, 1823; d. Ticehurst, Sussex, England, 1876) took violin and piano lessons. At the age of ten he became the organist of St. John's in Hull, where his grandfather was vicar. After receiving a classics degree from St. Catherine College, Cambridge, England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1847. In 1849 he became the precentor and choir director at Durham Cathedral, where he introduced reforms in the choir by insisting on consistent attendance, increasing rehearsals, and initiating music festivals. He served the parish of St. Oswald in Durham from 1862 until the year of his death. To the chagrin of his bishop, Dykes favored the high church practices associated with the Oxford Movement (choir robes, incense, and the like). A number of his three hundred hymn tunes are still respected as durable examples of Victorian hymnody. Most of his tunes were first published in Chope's Congregational Hymn and Tune Book (1857) and in early editions of the famous British hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern. Bert Polman

Richard Redhead

1820 - 1901 Person Name: Richard Redhead, 1820-1901 Adapter and Harmonizer of "ST. FLAVIAN" in The Hymnal 1982 Richard Redhead (b. Harrow, Middlesex, England, 1820; d. Hellingley, Sussex, England, 1901) was a chorister at Magdalen College, Oxford. At age nineteen he was invited to become organist at Margaret Chapel (later All Saints Church), London. Greatly influencing the musical tradition of the church, he remained in that position for twenty-five years as organist and an excellent trainer of the boys' choirs. Redhead and the church's rector, Frederick Oakeley, were strongly committed to the Oxford Movement, which favored the introduction of Roman elements into Anglican worship. Together they produced the first Anglican plainsong psalter, Laudes Diurnae (1843). Redhead spent the latter part of his career as organist at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Paddington (1864-1894). Bert Polman

Samuel Webbe

1740 - 1816 Composer (attributed to) of "[Lord! Who throughout these forty days]" in The Hymnal, Revised and Enlarged, as adopted by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the year of our Lord 1892 Samuel Webbe (the elder; b. London, England, 1740; d. London, 1816) Webbe's father died soon after Samuel was born without providing financial security for the family. Thus Webbe received little education and was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker at the age of eleven. However, he was determined to study and taught himself Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German, and Italian while working on his apprenticeship. He also worked as a music copyist and received musical training from Carl Barbant, organist at the Bavarian Embassy. Restricted at this time in England, Roman Catholic worship was freely permitted in the foreign embassies. Because Webbe was Roman Catholic, he became organist at the Portuguese Chapel and later at the Sardinian and Spanish chapels in their respective embassies. He wrote much music for Roman Catholic services and composed hymn tunes, motets, and madrigals. Webbe is considered an outstanding composer of glees and catches, as is evident in his nine published collections of these smaller choral works. He also published A Collection of Sacred Music (c. 1790), A Collection of Masses for Small Choirs (1792), and, with his son Samuel (the younger), Antiphons in Six Books of Anthems (1818). Bert Polman

David Ashley White

b. 1944 Harmonizer of "MORNING SONG" in Lift Up Your Hearts David Ashley White (b. 1944) is a seventh-generation Texan, born in San Antonio, and he both studied and taught in Texas throughout his career. He majored in oboe at Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, in composition for his Masters in Music at the University of Houston, and received a DMA from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 1977 he has been on the faculty of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, teaching theory and composition. White is a widely published composer of many types of compositions and has received many commissions. Selah Publishing Co. published three collections of his hymns. Emily Brink

Charles H. Webb

b. 1933 Person Name: Charles H. Webb Harmonizer of "LAND OF REST" in The United Methodist Hymnal

Claudia Frances Hernaman

1838 - 1898 Author of "Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Hernaman, Claudia Frances, née Ibotson, daughter of W. H. Ibotson, sometime Vicar of Edwinstowe, Notts, was born at Addlestone, Surrey, Oct. 19, 1838, and married Sept. 1858, to the Rev. J. W. D. Hernaman, one of H. M. Inspectors of Schools. Mrs. Hernaman has composed more than 150 hymns, a great proportion of which are for children, and also some translations from the Latin. Her publications include:— (1) The Child's Book of Praise; A Manual of Devotion in Simple Verse by C. F. H. Edited by the Rev. James Skinner, M.A., &c, 1873 ; (2) The Story of the Resurrection 1879; (3) Christmas Story, 1881; (4) Christmas Carols for Children, 1st series, 1884; 2nd series, 1885; (5) The Way of the Cross, a Metrical Litany, 1885; (6) Hymns for the Seven Words from the Cross, 1885; (7) The Crown of Life: A volume of Verses for the Seasons of the Church, 1886. In addition to these original publications Mrs. Hernaman contributed hymns to the Church Times, to various magazines, and to (l) Hymns for the Children of the Church (22 hymns). 1878; (2) Hymns for the Little Ones in Sunday Schools (10 hymns), 1884; (3) The Rev. M. Woodward's (Folkestone) Children's Service Book, 1883; (4) Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, 1881; and (5) The Altar Hymnal, 1884. Mrs. Hernaman edited The Altar Hymnal, and contributed thereto a few translations from the Latin in addition to original hymns. Mrs. Hernaman's hymns in common use appeared as follows:— i. In her Child's Book of Praise, 1873. 1. Behold, behold He cometh. Advent. 2. Holy Jesus, we adore Thee. Circumcision. 3. How can we serve Thee, Lord. For Choristers. 4. Jesus, in loving worship. Holy Communion. 5. Jesus, Royal Jesus. Palm Sunday. 6. Lord, I have sinned, but pardon me. Penitence. 7. Lord, Who throughout these forty days. Lent. 8. Reverently we worship Thee. Holy Trinity. ii. In her Appendix to The Child’s Book of Praise, 1874, and Hymns for Little Ones, 1884. 9. Hosannah, they were crying. Advent. iii. In her Christmas Carol, 1875. 10. Angels singing, Church bells ringing. Christmas Carol. iv. In Hymns for the Children of the Church, 1878. 11. As Saint Joseph lay asleep. Flight into Egypt. 12. Come, children, lift your voices. Harvest. 13. God bless the Church of England. Prayer for the Church. 14. Happy, happy Sunday. Sunday. 15. He led them unto Bethany. Ascension. 16. Jesu, we adore Thee. Holy Communion. v. In her Story of the Resurrection, 1879. 17. Early with the blush of dawn. Easter. 18. Now the six days' work is done. Sunday. vi. In The Altar Hymnal, 1884. 19. Arm, arm, for the conflict, soldiers (1880). Processional. 20. Calling, calling, ever calling. Home Mission. Written in 1878, and printed in New and Old. 21. Gracious Father, we beseech Thee. Holy Communion. 22. Hail to Thee, 0 Jesu. Holy Communion. 23. Magnify the Lord today. Christmas. 24. 0 Lamb of God, Who dost abide. Holy Communion. 25. This healthful Mystery. Holy Communion. vii. In Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, 1881. 26. It is a day of gladness. Girls' Friendly Societies. Mrs. Hernaman's translations in The Altar Hymnal are annotated under their Latin first lines. There is also her Good Shepherdhymn, in three parts. (1) “Faithful Shepherd of Thine own;" (2) “Faithful Shepherd, hear our cry;" (3) "Shepherd, who Thy life didst give," which appeared in Hymns for the Children of the Church, 1878, and in The Altar Hymnal 1884. She died Oct. 10, 1898. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)