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César Malan

1787 - 1864 Person Name: C. Malan Composer of "SILCHESTER" in Sacred Songs and Solos Rv Henri Abraham Cesar Malan, 1787-1864. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, into a bourgeois family that moved to Switzerland to escape religious persecution during the French Revolution, he attended the university in Marseilles, France, intending to become a businessman. Although having some grounding in religious faith by his mother, he decided to attend the Academy at Geneva (founded by Calvin) in preparation for ministry. He was ordained in 1810, after being appointed a college master (teaching Latin) in 1809. Malan was in accord with the National Church of Geneva as a Unitarian, but the Reveil Movement caused him to become a dissident (evangelical) instead of a proponent of the Reformed Church (believing works, not faith, was what mattered). In 1811 he married (wife’s name not found). They had at least two children (one son was Solomon, referenced below). From 1813 on Malan slowly became an evangelical, after being given an understanding of true salvation through grace (not works) in 1816 by two German Lutherans from Geneva. He became saved upon this realization and was so changed that he burned his prized collection of classical authors and manuscripts. In 1817 he preached around Geneva, and one sermon in particular, “Man only justified by faith alone” created a firestorm and brought him into conflict with religious authorities of the region. From then on he wished to help reform the national church from within, but the forces of the Venerable Company were too strong for him and excluded him from the pulpits and caused his dismissal from his regentsship at the college in 1818. Others in agreement with Malan were Charles Spurgeon, Robert Wilcox, Robert Haldane, and Henry Drummond. In 1820 he built a chapel in his garden and obtained the license of the State for it as a separatist place of worship. He preached in that chapel 43 years. In 1823 he was formally deprived of his status as a minister of the national Church. Various events caused his congregation to diminish over the next few years, and he began long tours of evangelization subsidized by religious friends in his land, Belgium, France, England and Scotland. He often preached to large congregations. Malan also authorized a hymn book, “Chants de Sion” (1841). A strong Calvinist, Malan lost no opportunity to evangelize. On one occasion an old man he visited pulled Malan’s hymnal out and told him he had prayed to see the author of it before he died. On a visit to England Malan also inspired author, Charlotte Elliott, to write the hymn lyrics for “Just as I am”, when seeking an answer to her conversion she asked and he advised her to come to Christ ‘just as she was’. Malan published a score of books and also produced many religious tracts and pamphlets largely on questions in dispute between the National and evangelical churches of Rome. He also wrote articles in the “Record” and in American reviews. His hymns were set to his own melodies. He was an artist, a mechanic, a carpenter, a metal forger, and a printer. He had his own workshop, forge and printing press. One of his greatest joys was the meeting of the evangelical alliance at Geneva in 1861 which helped change church views. He retired to his home, Vandoeuvres, in the countryside near Geneva in 1857, dying there seven years later.. He was honored by a visit from the Queen of Holland two years before his death. He is mainly remembered as a hymn writer, having written 1000+ hymn lyrics and tunes. One son, Solomon, a gifted linguist and theologian, became Vicar of Broadwindsor. About a dozen of his hymns appeared translated in the publication “Friendly visitor” (1826). He was an author, creator, composer, editor, correspondent, contributor, translator, owner, and performer. John Perry ================= Malan, Henri Abraham César. The family of Malan traces its origin to the valleys of Piedmont. A branch of it settled at Mérindol, in Dauphiné, but was driven from France by the persecutions that followed the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Pierre Malan [Cesar's father], after seeing his sister fall a victim to persecution, left Mérindol (1714), and arrived at Geneva (1722). Henri Abraham César Malan was born at Geneva in 1787. After an education at the College, he went to Marseilles, with the intention of learning business: but, soon after, entered the Academy at Geneva, as a preparation for the ministry, to which he was ordained in 1810. He had been appointed one of the masters at the College in the previous year. The National Church of Geneva was at that time almost Unitarian, and Malan's convictions were in accord with it. But the great movement known as the Réveil, of which the first products were the dissident church of Bourg de Four and at a later date that founded by Malan himself, and which finally imbued the whole Swiss Church with its spirit, was silently preparing itself. The germ of the movement may be traced in the Société des Amis (1810), of which Empeytaz and A. Bost were leaders; and in Malan's independent attainment to the doctrines of the Divinity of the Saviour and the free gifts of salvation through Him (1816). But the human agency, which gave it force, and determined its Calvinistic direction, was the visit of Robert Haldane (in the autumn of 1816), to whom not only these pioneers of the movement, but F. Monod, E. Rieu, Guers, Gonthier, Merle d'Aubigné, and others, always pointed as their spiritual father. Empeytaz and others sought to attain enfranchisement by the establishment of the "petite Eglise of Bourg de Four." Malan wished to reform the national Church from within: and a sermon at Geneva, which brought on him the obloquy of the professors and theologians that composed his audience, and which Haldane characterized as a republication of the Gospel, was his first overt act (Jan. 19, 1817). But the opposing forces were far too strong for him. The Venerable Company excluded him from the pulpits, and achieved his dismissal from his regentship at the College (1818). In 1820 he built a chapel (Chapelle du Temoignage) in his garden, and obtained the licence of the State for it, as a separatist place of worship. In 1823 he was formally deprived of his status as a minister of the national Church. The seven years that succeeded were the palmy days of the little chapel. Strangers, especially from England, mingled with the overflowing Swiss congregation. But (in 1830) a secession to Bourg de Four, and then the foundation of the Oratoire and the Société Evangelique, which in 1849 absorbed the congregation of Bourg de Four under the title of the Église Evangélique, thinned more and more the number of his adherents. His burning zeal for the conversion of souls found a larger outlet in long tours of evangelization, subsidized by religious friends, in his own land and Belgium and France, and also in Scotland and England, where he had friends among many religious bodies, and where he preached to large congregations. The distinguishing characteristic of these tours was his dealing with individuals. On the steamboat or the diligence, in the mountain walk, at the hotel, no opportunity was lost. On one occasion an old,man whom he visited drew from under his pillow a copy of his great hymnbook, Chants de Sion, 1841, and told him how he had prayed to see the author of it before he died. It is as the originator of the modern hymn movement in the French Reformed Church that Malan's fame cannot perish. The spirit of his hymns is perpetuated in the analysis of Christian experience, the never-wearied delineation of the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows of the believer's soul, which are still the staple of French Protestant hymns. To this was added, in Malan himself, a marked didactic tone, necessitated by the great struggle of the Réveil for Evangelical doctrine; and an emphatic Calvinism, expressing itself with all the despondency of Newton and Cowper, but, in contrast with them, in bright assurance, peace and gladness. French criticism has pronounced his hymns unequal, and full of literary defects; but their unaffected freshness and fervent sincerity are universally allowed. In the Chants de Sion, hymns 20, ”Hosanna! Béni soit"; 165, “Mon coeur joyeux, plein d'espérance"; 199, "Du Rocher de Jacob"; 200, "Agneau de Dieu"; 239, "Trois fois Jehovah," are in every Protestant French hymnbook; and several others are very widely used. Besides his hymns Malan produced numberless tracts and pamphlets on the questions in dispute between the National and Evangelical Churches and the Church of Rome, as well as articles in the Record and in American reviews. He was a man of varied acquirements. His hymns were set to his own melodies. He was an artist, a mechanic: his little workshop had its forge, its carpenter's bench, its printing press. To the end of his life his strong Calvinism, and his dread of mere external union in church government, kept him distinct from all movements of church comprehension, though freely joining in communion with all the sections of Evangelical thought in Geneva and Scotland. At one time there seemed a prospect of his even rejoining the national Church, which had driven him from her. One of his greatest joys was the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance at Geneva (1861). He left no sect; one of his latest orders was the demolition of his decayed chapel, in which he had preached for 43 years. He died at Vandoeuvres, near Geneva, in 1864, leaving a numerous family, one of whom, the Rev. S. C. Malan, D.D., sometime Vicar of Broadwindsor, is well known as a linguist and a theologian of the English Church. To English readers Malan is chiefly known as a hymn-writer through translations of his "Non, ce n'est pas mourir" (q.v.): "It is not death to die", &c. About a dozen of his hymns appear in a translated form in the Friendly Visitor for 1826. [Rev. H. Leigh Bennett, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/César_Malan

Anonymous

Author of "Lord, Bless and Pity Us" 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.

Louis Bourgeois

1510 - 1561 Composer (melody) of "ST. MICHAEL" in The Hymnbook Louis Bourgeois (b. Paris, France, c. 1510; d. Paris, 1561). In both his early and later years Bourgeois wrote French songs to entertain the rich, but in the history of church music he is known especially for his contribution to the Genevan Psalter. Apparently moving to Geneva in 1541, the same year John Calvin returned to Geneva from Strasbourg, Bourgeois served as cantor and master of the choristers at both St. Pierre and St. Gervais, which is to say he was music director there under the pastoral leadership of Calvin. Bourgeois used the choristers to teach the new psalm tunes to the congregation. The extent of Bourgeois's involvement in the Genevan Psalter is a matter of scholarly debate. Calvin had published several partial psalters, including one in Strasbourg in 1539 and another in Geneva in 1542, with melodies by unknown composers. In 1551 another French psalter appeared in Geneva, Eighty-three Psalms of David, with texts by Marot and de Beze, and with most of the melodies by Bourgeois, who supplied thirty four original tunes and thirty-six revisions of older tunes. This edition was republished repeatedly, and later Bourgeois's tunes were incorporated into the complete Genevan Psalter (1562). However, his revision of some older tunes was not uniformly appreciated by those who were familiar with the original versions; he was actually imprisoned overnight for some of his musical arrangements but freed after Calvin's intervention. In addition to his contribution to the 1551 Psalter, Bourgeois produced a four-part harmonization of fifty psalms, published in Lyons (1547, enlarged 1554), and wrote a textbook on singing and sight-reading, La Droit Chemin de Musique (1550). He left Geneva in 1552 and lived in Lyons and Paris for the remainder of his life. Bert Polman

W. H. Havergal

1793 - 1870 Person Name: William Henry Havergal, 1793-1870 Adapter of "FRANCONIA" in The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook Havergal, William Henry, M.A, son of William Havergal, was born at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 1793, and was educated at St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford (B.A. 1815, M.A. 1819). On taking Holy Orders he became in 1829 Rector of Astley, Worcestershire; in 1842, Rector of St. Nicholas, Worcester; and in 1860, Rector of Shareshill, near Wolverhampton. He was also Hon. Canon in Worcester Cathedral from 1845. He died April 18, 1870. His hymns, about 100 in all, were in many instances written for special services in his own church, and printed as leaflets. Several were included in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840 (2nd ed., 1842); and in Metrical Psalms & Hymns for Singing in Churches, Worcester, Deighton, 1849, commonly known as the Worcester Diocesan Hymn Book, and of which he was the Editor. In Life Echoes, 1883, his hymns are given with those of Miss Havergal. Of those in common use the greater part are in Mercer, and Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory. Although his hymns are all good, and two or three are excellent, it is not as a hymnwriter but as a musician that Canon Havergal is best known. His musical works and compositions included, in addition to numerous individual hymn tunes and chants, the Gresham Prize Service, 1836; the Gresham Prize Anthem, 1845; Old Church Psalmody, 1849; History of the Old 100th Psalm tune, 1854, &c. He also reprinted Ravenscroft’s Psalter of 1611. His hymns in common use include:— 1. Blessed Jesus, lord and Brother. School Festivals, 1833. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 2. Brighter than meridian splendour. Christ the glory of His Church. 1830. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 3. Christians, awake to joy and praise. Christmas Carol, c. 1860. Printed on broadsheet, with music by the author, and sold on behalf of the Lancashire Cotton Distress Fund. 4. Come, Shepherds, come, 'tis just a year. Christmas Carol. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 5. For ever and for ever, Lord. Missions, 1866, for the Church Mission Society. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 6. Hallelujah, Lord, our voices. Sunday. 1828. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalms, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 7. Heralds of the Lord of glory. Missions. First sung in Astley Church, Sep. 23, 1827. Published in Miss Havergal's Starlight through the Shadows, 1880; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 8. Hosanna, raise the pealing hymn. Praise to Christ, 1833, and first sung in Astley Church, June 9, 1833. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes 1883, &c. 9. How vast the field of souls. Missions. 1858. Printed for Shareshill Church Miss. Anniversary, 1863, and published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, and the Life Echoes, 1883. 10. In doubt and dread dismay. Missions. Written in 1837, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849, &c. 11. Jerusalem the golden, The home of saints shall be. Heaven. Published in Life Echoes, 1883. 12. My times are in Thy hand, Their best, &c. 1860. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, the Records of the author's life and work, and Life Echoes, 1883. The editor of the Records says (p. 159) "this hymn has been much appreciated, and well illustrates the devotional and cheerful spirit of the writer." 13. No dawn of holy light. Sunday. 1825. Printed in 1831 on a leaflet, and published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, 1883, &c. 14. Our faithful God hath sent us. Harvest. Written at Shareshill in 1863, for a Harvest Festival. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory 1872, and Life Echoes, 1883. 15. Shout, 0 earth! from silence waking. Praise to Jesus for Redemption. 1841. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. 16. So happy all the day. Christmas Carol, c. 1834. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 17. Soon the trumpet of salvation. Missions. 1826. Published in Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872. 18. To praise our Shepherd's [Saviour's] care. The Good Shepherd. Written after witnessing the death of Elizabeth Edwards, aged 12, of St. Nicholas, Worcester, and printed as a leaflet. Published in W. C. Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Life Echoes, &c, 1883. The author also published a Memoir of the child. 19. Widely 'midst the slumbering nations. Missions. 1828. Published in the Worcester Psalms & Hymns, 1849; Snepp's Songs of Grace & Glory, 1872, &c. In addition to these hymns, his carols, "How grand, and how bright," "Our festal morn is come," and others are annotated under their respective first lines. Most of these carols and hymns were reprinted in Christmas Carols & Sacred Songs, Chiefly by the Rev. W. H. Havergal, London, Nisbet, 1869. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ===================== Havergal, W. H., p. 498, i. Other hymns are: — 1. Lord, if judgments now are waking. Second Advent. Published in W. Carus Wilson's Book of General Psalmody, 1840; in Kennedy, 1863, &c. 2. Remember, Lord, Thy word of old displayed. Missions. "Composed for a special prayer-meeting for missionary labourers, held in the author's schoolroom, in the parish of St. Nicholas's, Worcester." (W. F. Stevenson's Hymns for Church and Home, 1873, where the original text is also given.) It must be noted that No. 17, at p. 498, ii., "Soon the trumpet of salvation," was first published in A Collection of Original Airs adapted to Hymns, &c, 1826. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

Henry J. Gauntlett

1805 - 1876 Person Name: Henry John Gauntlett 1805-76 Composer of "ST GEORGE" in The Australian Hymn Book with Catholic Supplement Henry J. Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, July 9, 1805; d. London, England, February 21, 1876) When he was nine years old, Henry John Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, England, 1805; d. Kensington, London, England, 1876) became organist at his father's church in Olney, Buckinghamshire. At his father's insistence he studied law, practicing it until 1844, after which he chose to devote the rest of his life to music. He was an organist in various churches in the London area and became an important figure in the history of British pipe organs. A designer of organs for William Hill's company, Gauntlett extended the organ pedal range and in 1851 took out a patent on electric action for organs. Felix Mendelssohn chose him to play the organ part at the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham, England, in 1846. Gauntlett is said to have composed some ten thousand hymn tunes, most of which have been forgotten. Also a supporter of the use of plainchant in the church, Gauntlett published the Gregorian Hymnal of Matins and Evensong (1844). Bert Polman

Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Composer of "LABAN" in The Psalter 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.

James McGranahan

1840 - 1907 Composer of "[Lord, bless and pity us]" in Bible Songs No. 4 James McGranahan USA 1840-1907. Born at West Fallowfield, PA, uncle of Hugh McGranahan, and son of a farmer, he farmed during boyhood. Due to his love of music his father let him attend singing school, where he learned to play the bass viol. At age 19 he organized his first singing class and soon became a popular teacher in his area of the state. He became a noted musician and hymns composer. His father was reluctant to let him pursue this career, but he soon made enough money doing it that he was able to hire a replacement farmhand to help his father while he studied music. His father, a wise man, soon realized how his son was being used by God to win souls through his music. He entered the Normal Music School at Genesco, NY, under William B Bradbury in 1861-62. He met Miss Addie Vickery there. They married in 1863, and were very close to each other their whole marriage, but had no children. She was also a musician and hymnwriter in her own right. For a time he held a postmaster’s job in Rome, PA. In 1875 he worked for three years as a teacher and director at Dr. Root’s Normal Music Institute. He because well-known and successful as a result, and his work attracted much attention. He had a rare tenor voice, and was told he should train for the operatic stage. It was a dazzling prospect, but his friend, Philip Bliss, who had given his wondrous voice to the service of song for Christ for more than a decade, urged him to do the same. Preparing to go on a Christmas vacation with his wife, Bliss wrote McGranahan a letter about it, which McGranahan discussed with his friend Major Whittle. Those two met in person for the first time at Ashtubula, OH, both trying to retrieve the bodies of the Bliss’s, who died in a bridge-failed train wreck. Whittle thought upon meeting McGranahan, that here is the man Bliss has chosen to replace him in evangelism. The men returned to Chicago together and prayed about the matter. McGranahan gave up his post office job and the world gained a sweet gospel singer/composer as a result. McGranahan and his wife, and Major Whittle worked together for 11 years evangelizing in the U.S., Great Britain, and Ireland. They made two visits to the United Kingdom, in 1880 and 1883, the latter associated with Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey evangelistic work. McGranahan pioneered use of the male choir in gospel song. While holding meetings in Worcester, MA, he found himself with a choir of only male voices. Resourcefully, he quickly adapted the music to those voices and continued with the meetings. The music was powerful and started what is known as male choir and quartet music. Music he published included: “The choice”, “Harvest of song”, “Gospel Choir”,, “Gospel hymns #3,#4, #5, #6” (with Sankey and Stebbins), “Songs of the gospel”, and “Male chorus book”. The latter three were issued in England. In 1887 McGranahan’s health compelled him to give up active work in evangelism. He then built a beautiful home, Maplehurst, among friends at Kinsman, OH, and settled down to the composition of music, which would become an extension of his evangelistic work. Though his health limited his hours, of productivity, some of his best hymns were written during these days. McGranahan was a most lovable, gentle, modest, unassuming, gentleman, and a refined and cultured Christian. He loved good fellowship, and often treated guests to the most delightful social feast. He died of diabetes at Kinsman, OH, and went home to be with his Savior. John Perry

William Crotch

1775 - 1847 Adapter of "ST. MICHAEL" in The Hymnbook William Crotch (5 July 1775 – 29 December 1847) was an English composer, organist and artist. Born in Norwich, Norfolk to a master carpenter he showed early musical talent as a child prodigy. The three and a half year old Master William Crotch was taken to London by his ambitious mother, where he not only played on the organ of the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace, but for King George III. The London Magazine of April 1779 records: He appears to be fondest of solemn tunes and church musick, particularly the 104th Psalm. As soon as he has finished a regular tune, or part of a tune, or played some little fancy notes of his own, he stops, and has some of the pranks of a wanton boy; some of the company then generally give him a cake, an apple, or an orange, to induce him to play again... Crotch was later to observe that this experience led him to become a rather spoiled child, excessively indulged so that he would perform. He was for a time organist at Christ Church, Oxford, from which he was later to graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree. His composition The Captivity of Judah was played at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, on 4 June 1789; his most successful composition in adulthood was the oratorio Palestine (1812). He may have composed the Westminster Chimes in 1793. In 1797 Crotch was given a professorship at Oxford University, and in 1799 he acquired a doctorate in music. While at Oxford, he became acquainted with the musician and artist John Malchair, and took up sketching. He followed Malchair's style in recording the exact time and date of each of his pictures, and when he met John Constable in London in 1805, he passed the habit along to the more famous artist. In 1834, to commemorate the installation of the Duke of Wellington as chancellor of the University of Oxford, Crotch penned a second oratorio titled The Captivity of Judah. The 1834 work bears little resemblance to the oratorio he wrote as a child in 1789. In 1822, Crotch was appointed to the Royal Academy of Music as its first Principal, but resigned ten years later.[2] He spent his last years at his son's house in Taunton, Somerset, where he died suddenly in 1847. Among his notable pupils were William Sterndale Bennett, Lucy Anderson, Stephen Codman, George Job Elvey, Cipriani Potter, and Charles Kensington Salaman --en.wikipedia.org/

John Baptiste Calkin

1827 - 1905 Person Name: J. Baptiste Calkin Composer of "DEDICATION" in The Psalter Hymnal John Baptiste Calkin United Kingdom 1827-1905. Born in London, he was reared in a musical atmosphere. Studying music under his father, and with three brothers, he became a composer, organist, and music teacher. At 19, he was appointed organist, precenter, and choirmaster at St. Columbia's College, Dublin, Ireland, 1846 to 1853. From 1853 to 1863 we was organist and choirmaster at Woburn Chapel, London. From 1863 to 1868, he was organist of Camden Road Chapel. From 1870 to 1884 he was organist at St. Thomas's Church, Camden Town. In 1883 he became professor at Guildhall School of Music and concentrated on teaching and composing. He was also a professor of music and on the council of Trinity College, London, and a member of the Philharmonic Society (1862). In 1893 he was a fellow of the College of Organists. John and wife, Victoire, had four sons, each following a musical carer. He wrote much music for organ and scored string arrangements, sonatas, duos, etc. He died at Hornsey Rise Gardens. John Perry

Robert Archibald Smith

1780 - 1829 Person Name: Robert Archibald Smith, 1780 - 1829 Adapter of "SELMA" in The Hymnary of the United Church of Canada Although largely self-taught, Robert A. Smith (b. Reading, Berkshire, England, 1780; d. Edinburgh, Scotland, 1829) was an excellent musician. By the age of ten he played the violin, cello, and flute, and was a church chorister. From 1802 to 1817 he taught music in Paisley and was precentor at the Abbey; from 1823 until his death he was precentor and choirmaster in St. George's Church, Edinburgh. He enlarged the repertoire of tunes for psalm singing in Scotland, raised the precentor skills to a fine art, and greatly improved the singing of the church choirs he directed. Smith published his church music in Sacred Harmony (1820, 1825) and compiled a six-volume collection of Scottish songs, The Scottish Minstrel (1820-1824). Bert Polman