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William Dressler

1826 - 1914 Person Name: Wm. Dressler Composer of "[Father, lead me day by day]" in The New Children's Hymnal Prof. William Dressler was born in Nottingham, England and his father was at one time court flutiest to the King of Saxony. Mr. Dressler was graduated from the Cologne Conservatory of Music in 1847. Shortly after, he was first violinist of the Opera House in Wiesbaden and then became conductor. He came to this country in the early fifties as solo pianist and accompanist to Ole Bull. After traveling several seasons with concert companies Mr. Dressler settled in New York and devoted himself to teaching, playing in churches and composing. He was a former choirmaster and organist of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterina Church. He played in other churches, among them St. Charles Borromeo’s, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic in Brooklyn, and St. Peter’s iin Jersey City, where he remained for eighteen years . This long term in Catholic churches let him to compose much music for their services and many of his compositions have been used all over the world. Prof. Dressler was for many years musical editor for the old publishing house of William Hall & Son & J. L. Peters. He is survived by three children, all musicians. excerpts from New York Times Obituary, July 3, 1914

William B. Bradbury

1816 - 1868 Composer of "ALETTA" in The Abingdon Hymnal William Bachelder Bradbury USA 1816-1868. Born at York, ME, he was raised on his father's farm, with rainy days spent in a shoe-shop, the custom in those days. He loved music and spent spare hours practicing any music he could find. In 1830 the family moved to Boston, where he first saw and heard an organ and piano, and other instruments. He became an organist at 15. He attended Dr. Lowell Mason's singing classes, and later sang in the Bowdoin Street church choir. Dr. Mason became a good friend. He made $100/yr playing the organ, and was still in Dr. Mason's choir. Dr. Mason gave him a chance to teach singing in Machias, ME, which he accepted. He returned to Boston the following year to marry Adra Esther Fessenden in 1838, then relocated to Saint John, New Brunswick. Where his efforts were not much appreciated, so he returned to Boston. He was offered charge of music and organ at the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn. That led to similar work at the Baptist Tabernacle, New York City, where he also started a singing class. That started singing schools in various parts of the city, and eventually resulted in music festivals, held at the Broadway Tabernacle, a prominent city event. He conducted a 1000 children choir there, which resulted in music being taught as regular study in public schools of the city. He began writing music and publishing it. In 1847 he went with his wife to Europe to study with some of the music masters in London and also Germany. He attended Mendelssohn funeral while there. He went to Switzerland before returning to the states, and upon returning, commenced teaching, conducting conventions, composing, and editing music books. In 1851, with his brother, Edward, he began manufacturring Bradbury pianos, which became popular. Also, he had a small office in one of his warehouses in New York and often went there to spend time in private devotions. As a professor, he edited 59 books of sacred and secular music, much of which he wrote. He attended the Presbyterian church in Bloomfield, NJ, for many years later in life. He contracted tuberculosis the last two years of his life. John Perry

George C. Stebbins

1846 - 1945 Composer of "POSEN" in Elmhurst Hymnal Stebbins studied music in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, then became a singing teacher. Around 1869, he moved to Chicago, Illinois, to join the Lyon and Healy Music Company. He also became the music director at the First Baptist Church in Chicago. It was in Chicago that he met the leaders in the Gospel music field, such as George Root, Philip Bliss, & Ira Sankey. At age 28, Stebbins moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he became music director at the Claredon Street Baptist Church; the pastor there was Adoniram Gordon. Two years later, Stebbins became music director at Tremont Temple in Boston. Shortly thereafter, he became involved in evangelism campaigns with Moody and others. Around 1900, Stebbins spent a year as an evangelist in India, Egypt, Italy, Palestine, France and England. (www.hymntime.com/tch)

Richard Redhead

1820 - 1901 Harmonizer of "ORIENTIS PARTIBUS" in Great Songs of the Church (Revised) 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

Anonymous

Person Name: Anon. Author of "Father, Lead Me" in The Epworth 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.

Johann Anastasius Freylinghausen

1670 - 1739 Person Name: J. A. Freylinghausen, 1670-1739 Arranger of "POSEN" in Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church Freylinghausen, Johann Anastasius, son of Dietrich Freylinghausen, merchant and burgomaster at Gandersheim, Brunswick, was born at Gandersheim, Dec. 2, 1670. He entered the University of Jena at Easter, 1689. Attracted by the preaching of A. H. Francke and J. J. Breithaupt, he removed to Erfurt in 1691, and at Easter, 1692, followed them to Halle. About the end of 1693 he returned to Gandersheim, and employed himself as a private tutor. In 1695 he went to Glaucha as assistant to Francke; and when Francke became pastor of St. Ulrich's, in Halle,1715, Freylinghausen became his colleague, and in the same year married his only daughter. In 1723 he became also sub-director of the Paedagogium and the Orphanage; and after Francke's death in 1727, succeeded him as pastor of St. Ulrich's and director of the Francke Institutions. Under his fostering care these Institutions attained their highest development. From a stroke of paralysis in 1728, and a second in 1730, he recovered in great measure, but a third in 1737 crippled his right side, while the last, in Nov., 1738, left him almost helpless. He died on Feb. 12, 1739, and was buried beside Francke (Koch, vi. 322-334; Allgemine Deutsche Biographie, vii. 370-71; Bode, pp. 69-70; Grote's Introduction, &c.) Almost all Freylinghausen's hymns appeared in his own hymnbook, which was the standard collection of the Halle school, uniting the best productions of Pietism with a good representation of the older "classical" hymns. This work, which greatly influenced later collections, and was the source from which many editors drew not only the hymns of Pietism, but also the current forms of the earlier hymns (as well as the new "Halle" melodies, a number of which are ascribed to Freylinghausen himself) appeared in two parts, viz.:— i. Geistreiches Gesang-Buch, den Kern alter und neuer Lieder...in sich haltend &c, Halle. Gedrucktund verlegt im Waysen-Hause, 1704 [Hamburg], with 683 hymns and 173 melodies. To the second edition, 1705 [Rostock University], an Appendix was added with Hymns 684-758, and 21 melodies. Editions 3-18 are practically the same so far as the hymns are concerned, save that in ed. 11, 1719 [Berlin], and later issues, four hymns, written by J. J. Rambach at Freylinghausen's request, replaced four of those in eds. 1-10. ii. Neues Geistreiches Gesangbuch,&c, Halle . . . 1714 [Berlin], with 815 hymns and 154 melodies. In the 2nd edition, 1719 [Rostock University], Hymns 816-818, with one melody, were added. In 1741 these two parts were combined by G. A. Francke, seven hymns being added, all but one taken from the first edition, 1718, of the so-called Auszug, which was compiled for congregational use mainly from the original two parts: and this reached a second, and last, edition in 1771. So far as the melodies are concerned, the edition of 1771 is the most complete, containing some 600 to 1582 hymns. (Further details of these editions in the Blätter für Hymnologie, 1883, pp. 44-46, 106-109; 1885, pp. 13-14.) A little volume of notes on the hymns and hymnwriters of the 1771 edition, compiled by J. H. Grischow and completed by J. G. Kirchner, and occasionally referred to in these pages, appeared as Kurzgefasste Nachricht von ältern und ncuern Liederverfassern at Halle, 1771. As a hymnwriter Freylinghausen ranks not only as the best of the Pietistic school, but as the first among his contemporaries. His finest productions are distinguished by a sound and robust piety, warmth of feeling depth of Christian experience, scripturalness, clearness and variety of style, which gained for them wide acceptance, and have kept them still in popular use. A complete edition of his 44 hymns, with a biographical introduction by Ludwig Grote, appeared as his Geistliche Lieder, at Halle, 1855. A number of them, including No. v., are said to have been written during severe attacks of toothache. Two (“Auf, auf, weil der Tag erschienen"; "Der Tag ist hin") are noted under their own first lines. i. Hymns in English common use: -- i. Monarche aller Ding. God's Majesty. 1714, as above, No. 139, in 11 stanzas of 6 lines, repeated in Grote, 1855, p. 88, and as No. 38 in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863. A fine hymn of Praise, on the majesty and love of God. Translated as:— Monarch of all, with lowly fear, by J. Wesley, in Hymns & Sacred Poems, 1739 (P. Works, 1868-1872, vol. i. p. 104), in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, from st. i., ii., v.-vii., ix.-xi. Repeated in full in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1754, pt. i., No. 456 (1886, No. 176); and in J. A. Latrobe's Collection, 1841. The following forms of this translation are also in common use:-- (1) To Thee, 0 Lord, with humble fear, being Wesley's st. i., iii.-v., vii., viii. altered as No. 156 in Dr. Martineau's Hymns for Christian Church & Home, 1840, and repeated in Miss Courtauld's Psalms, Hymns & Anthems, 1860, and in America in the Cheshire Association Unitarian Collection, 1844. (2) Thou, Lord, of all the parent art, Wesley's, st. iii.-v., vii. altered in the College Hymnal, N. Y., 1876. (3) Thou, Lord, art Light; Thy native ray, Wesley's st. iv., v., vii., in Hymns of the Spirit, 1864. ii. 0 reines Wesen, lautre Quelle. Penitence. Founded on Psalm li. 12, 1714, as above, No. 321, in 7 stanzas of 8 lines, repeated in Grote, 1855, p. 41, and in Bunsen's Versuch, 1833, No. 777 (ed. 1881, No. 435). The only translation in common use is:— Pure Essence: Spotless Fount of Light. A good and full translation by Miss Winkworth in the first series of her Lyra Germanica, 1855, p. 43, and in her Chorale Book for England, 1863, No. 113. iii. Wer ist wohl wie du. Names and offices of Christ. One of his noblest and most beautiful hymns, a mirror of his inner life, and one of the finest of the German "Jesus Hymns." 1704, as above, No. 66, in 14 st. of 6 l., repeated in Grote, 1855, p. 33, and is No. 96 in the Berlin Geistliche Lieder, ed. 1863. The translations in common use are: 1. 0 Jesu, source of calm repose, by J. Wesley, being a free translation of st. i., iii., v., viii., xiii. First published in his Psalms & Hymns, Charlestown, 1737 (Poetical Works, 1868-1872, vol. i. p. 161). Repeated in full as No. 462 in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymnbook, 1754. In the 1826 and later editions (1886, No. 233) it begins, "Jesus, Thou source." The original form was included as No. 49 in the Wesley Hymns & Spiritual Songs , 1753, and, as No. 343, in the Wesley Hymnbook, 1780 (1875, No. 353). Varying centos under the original first line are found in Mercer's Church Psalter & Hymn Book, 1855-1864; Kennedy , 1863; Irish Church Hymnal, 1869-1873; J. L. Porter's Collection, 1876, &c. It has also furnished the following centos:— (1) Messiah! Lord! rejoicing still, being Wesley's st. iv.-vi. altered in Dr. Martineau's Collection of Hymns for Christian Worship, 1840. (2) Lord over all, sent to fulfil, Wesley's st. iv., iii., v., vi. in the American Methodist Episcopal Hymnbook, 1849. 2. Who is like Thee, Who? a translation of st. i., ii., v., vii., x., xiii., as No. 687, in pt. i. of the Moravian Hymnbook, 1754. Translations of st. xi., xiv. were added in 1789, and the first line altered in 1801(1886, No. 234), to "Jesus, who with Thee." The translations of st. i., ii., x., xiv., from the 1801, altered and beginning, "Jesus, who can be," are included in America in the Dutch Reformed Hymns of the Church, 1869; Hymns & Songs of Praise, N. Y., 1874; and Richards's Collection, N.Y., 1881. 3. Who is there like Thee, a good translation of st. i., ii., viii., xiv., by J. S. Stallybrass, as No. 234 in Curwen's Sabbath Hymnbook, 1859, repeated in the Irish Church Hymnal, 1873, and in W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church & Home, 1873. 4. Who is, Jesus blest, a translation of stanzas i., ii., v., vi., xii., xiv., by M. Loy, in the Ohio Lutheran Hymnal, 1880. 5. Who, as Thou, makes blest, a good translation, omitting st. vii., ix., x., contributed by Dr. F. W Gotch to the Baptist Magazine, 1857. Repeated in the 1880 Supplement to the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858. The translations not in common use are: — (1) "Whither shall we flee," by Miss Dunn, 1857, p. 55. (2) "Who has worth like Thine," in the U. P. Juvenile Miss. Magazine, 1857, p. 217. (3) "Thou art First and Best," by Miss Winkworth, 1869, p. 267. ii. Hymns translated into English but not in common use:— iv. Herr und Gott der Tag und Nächte. Evening. 1705, as above, No. 755, in 6 stanzas, Grote, p. 105. Translated by H. J. Buckoll, 1842, p. 106, beginning with stanza. ii. v. Mein Herz, gieb dioh rufrieden. Cross and Consolation. First in the Halle Stadt Gesangbuch, 1711, No. 503, in 11 stanzas; repeated 1714, No. 450, and in Grote, p. 71. Translated by Dr. G. Walker, 1860, p. 86. vi. 0 Lamm, das keine Sünde je beflecket. Passiontide. 1714, No. 85, in 19 stanzas, Grote, p. 14. Translated as, (1) "Lamb, for Thy boundless love I praises offer," of st. xii. as stanza i. of No. 1023 in the Supplement of 1808 to the Moravian Hymn Book, 1801 (1849, No. 121). (2) "O Lamb, whom never spot of sin defiled," in the British Magazine, June, 1838, p. 625. vii. 0 Lamm, das meine Sündenlast getragen. Easter Eve. 1714, No. 95, in 8 stanzas; Grote, p. 23. Translated as "Christ Jesus is that precious grain," a translation of st. v. by F. W. Foster, as No. 71 in the Moravian Hymnbook, 1789 (1886, No. 921). viii. Zu dir, Herr Jesu, komme ich. Penitence. Founded on St. Matthew xi. 28-30. 1714, as above, No. 306, in 4 stanzas; Grote, p. 39. Translated by Dr. H. Mills, 1845 (1856, p. 80). [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

John Bacchus Dykes

1823 - 1876 Person Name: John B. Dykes Composer of "ST. BEES" in Worship and Song. (Rev. ed.) 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

Arthur Sullivan

1842 - 1900 Person Name: Sir Arthur Sullivan, 1842-1900 Composer of "EVER FAITHFUL" in Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church 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

J. H. Fillmore

1849 - 1936 Composer of "[Father, lead me day by day]" in Glad Songs James Henry Fillmore USA 1849-1936. Born at Cincinnati, OH, he helped support his family by running his father's singing school. He married Annie Eliza McKrell in 1880, and they had five children. After his father's death he and his brothers, Charles and Frederick, founded the Fillmore Brothers Music House in Cincinnati, specializing in publishing religious music. He was also an author, composer, and editor of music, composing hymn tunes, anthems, and cantatas, as well as publishing 20+ Christian songbooks and hymnals. He issued a monthly periodical “The music messsenger”, typically putting in his own hymns before publishing them in hymnbooks. Jessie Brown Pounds, also a hymnist, contributed song lyrics to the Fillmore Music House for 30 years, and many tunes were composed for her lyrics. He was instrumental in the prohibition and temperance efforts of the day. His wife died in 1913, and he took a world tour trip with single daughter, Fred (a church singer), in the early 1920s. He died in Cincinnati. His son, Henry, became a bandmaster/composer. John Perry

Chas. H. Gabriel

1856 - 1932 Person Name: Charles H. Gabriel Composer of "[Father, lead me day by day] (Gabriel)" in Christian Service Songs Pseudonyms: C. D. Emerson, Charlotte G. Homer, S. B. Jackson, A. W. Lawrence, Jennie Ree ============= For the first seventeen years of his life Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (b. Wilton, IA, 1856; d. Los Angeles, CA, 1932) lived on an Iowa farm, where friends and neighbors often gathered to sing. Gabriel accompanied them on the family reed organ he had taught himself to play. At the age of sixteen he began teaching singing in schools (following in his father's footsteps) and soon was acclaimed as a fine teacher and composer. He moved to California in 1887 and served as Sunday school music director at the Grace Methodist Church in San Francisco. After moving to Chicago in 1892, Gabriel edited numerous collections of anthems, cantatas, and a large number of songbooks for the Homer Rodeheaver, Hope, and E. O. Excell publishing companies. He composed hundreds of tunes and texts, at times using pseudonyms such as Charlotte G. Homer. The total number of his compositions is estimated at about seven thousand. Gabriel's gospel songs became widely circulated through the Billy Sunday-Homer Rodeheaver urban crusades. Bert Polman