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William B. Bradbury

1816 - 1868 Person Name: William Batchelder Bradbury (1816-1868) Composer of "DENNIS" in Songs of Praise with Tunes 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

Jean Janzen

b. 1933 Alterer of "O bless the Lord, my soul" in Hymnal Jean Janzen was born on December 5, 1933, the seventh of Henry Peter Wiebe and Anna Schultz Wiebe's eventual eight children (Three Mennonite Poets 5). For the first five years of her life, Janzen lived in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan (A Cappella 25). In 1938, she moved to Mountain Lake, Minnesota when her schoolteacher father began his second ministry as a pastor (“Coming into Voice”). A year later, the family moved to Kansas (“Coming into Voice”). Janzen says she cannot remember when she wrote her first poem, but the first evidence of her work is a handwritten book of five poems that she made in third or fourth grade, which was saved by her mother through the family’s many moves (E-mail Interview). She had very little exposure to poetry and literature as a child, except for hymns and Bible stories. She values these elements of her childhood and “treasure[s] the artful rhythms of the King James [Bible]” (E-mail Interview). Janzen attended Meade Bible Academy, Tabor College, and Grace College (A Cappella 25). It was in college that she had her first real exposure to literature. She was “thrilled, and became a literature major.” She remembers being “enamored” with Emily Dickinson and writing papers about her whenever given the chance. However, she never considered writing poetry as a possible career (E-mail Interview). Janzen--then Jean Wiebe--married Louis Janzen, a medical student, and the couple moved to Chicago where she worked as a medical secretary while taking courses at Northwestern University (Hostetler, A Cappella 25). Janzen cites this period of her life as the beginning of her love for visual art, calling the Chicago Art Institute the “open gate” for her and her husband where they “became hooked” (Mennonite Life Interview). In 1961, they moved to Fresno, Cal., where Louis worked as a pediatrician in a private practice. Here they raised their two daughters and two sons. When her youngest child was in school, Janzen “joined a writer’s group at the encouragement of [her] husband and nephew after they read some poems [she] had written as a gift to [her] husband” (E-mail Interview). As her children became older, Janzen went back to college, earning a BA in English from Fresno Pacific College and an MA in Creative Writing and English from California State University at Fresno in 1982. There she studied with poets Peter Everwine, Philip Levine, and C.G. Hanzlicek. Janzen says that after one semester of writing poetry in college, she took the work “seriously” and “imagined the possibility of growing into a poet,” but it took her several years “to be willing to say that out loud” (E-mail Interview). Rudy Wiebe, a Mennonite novelist, served as a mentor who influenced Janzen's writing career. She received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1995 (“Coming into Voice”). Janzen grew up in the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren Church and many of her relatives, including her father, were pastors (“Coming into Voice”). This strong connection with the church has had a significant influence on her poetry. Music has also played an important role in Janzen’s life. Her mother loved music and music was an important part of worship in her church. She learned to play the piano when she was young, later studying music in college and teaching piano for many years (“Coming into Voice”). Janzen finds harmony between the religious and artistic elements of her life, integrating them in a way that enriches both. She also uses her gifts in the church, serving as a minister of worship at the College Community Mennonite Brethren Church in Clovis, Cal., as well as writing hymn texts, which have been set to music and are included in several hymn books. Other prominent themes in her work include art, history, family, the earth, and her Russian Mennonite ancestors (“Coming into Voice”). Janzen says that “the sensual and spiritual are inevitably intertwined” (Mennonite Life Interview) and it is this element of her work that has attracted the most attention from critics and readers. She emphasizes “the presence of spirit in the flesh,” using rich description of physical objects to reveal deeper emotions and truths. Janzen has taught poetry writing at Fresno Pacific University and Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia. --www.goshen.edu/mennonitepoetry/

Hans G. Nägeli

1773 - 1836 Person Name: Hans Georg Naegeli (1773-1836) Composer of "DENNIS" in Songs of Praise with Tunes Johann G. Nageli (b. Wetzikon, near Zurich, Switzerland, 1773; d. Wetzikon, 1836) was an influential music educator who lectured throughout Germany and France. Influenced by Johann Pestalozzi, he published his theories of music education in Gangbildungslehre (1810), a book that made a strong impact on Lowell Mason. Nageli composed mainly" choral works, including settings of Goethe's poetry. He received his early instruction from his father, then in Zurich, where he concentrated on the music of. S. Bach. In Zurich, he also established a lending library and a publishing house, which published first editions of Beethoven’s piano sonatas and music by Bach, Handel, and Frescobaldi. Bert Polman

Andraé Crouch

1942 - 2015 Person Name: Andre Crouch Author of "Bless His Holy Name" in Baptist Hymnal 1991 Born in San Francisco on July 1, 1942, and raised in Los Angeles, Andraé Edward Crouch was the son of bivocational-pastor parents Benjamin and Catherine Crouch. He has recounted that he received the gift of music as a child, when his father was called as a guest preacher and pastoral candidate to a small rural church that had no musicians. He began playing for them at the age of 11. He wrote his first gospel song at 14, and formed his first band, the COGICS, in 1960. In 1965 he formed The Disciples, which lasted until 1979, and as a protegé of Audrey Mieir, Ralph Carmichael, and other leading Contemporary Christian Music artists of the time, went on to win a total of nine Grammies, and numerous other awards. He wrote his first well-known song, "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power", at the age of 15, but most of his songs that have gained congregational currency flowed from the years when he was active with The Disciples. After The Disciples were disbanded, Crouch continued his recording and performing career, and also became more active in church ministries. After his parents died (1993-94), with his twin sister Sandra he took over the pastorate at the church his parents had led, New Christ Memorial Church of God in Christ in Pacoima, California. In December, 2014, Crouch was hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia and congestive heart failure, and on January 3, 2015, he was readmitted to the hospital following a heart attack. He died there five days later, at the age of 72. His twin sister and co-pastor Sandra Crouch issued the following statement: "Today my twin brother, womb-mate and best friend went home to be with the Lord. Please keep me, my family and our church family in your prayers. I tried to keep him here but God loved him best."

Nolan Williams

Person Name: Nolan Williams, Jr., b. 1969 Arranger of "[He has done great things]" in African American Heritage Hymnal

George J. Elvey

1816 - 1893 Person Name: G. J. Elvey Composer of "[Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me]" in The Students' Hymnal George Job Elvey (b. Canterbury, England, 1816; d. Windlesham, Surrey, England, 1893) As a young boy, Elvey was a chorister in Canterbury Cathedral. Living and studying with his brother Stephen, he was educated at Oxford and at the Royal Academy of Music. At age nineteen Elvey became organist and master of the boys' choir at St. George Chapel, Windsor, where he remained until his retirement in 1882. He was frequently called upon to provide music for royal ceremonies such as Princess Louise's wedding in 1871 (after which he was knighted). Elvey also composed hymn tunes, anthems, oratorios, and service music. Bert Polman

Robert Schumann

1810 - 1856 Person Name: R. Schumann, 1810—1856 Arranger of "[O bless the Lord, my soul]" in The Lutheran Hymnary Robert Alexander Schumann DM Germany 1810-1856. Born at Swickau, Saxony, Germany, the last child of a novelist, bookseller, and publisher, he began composing music at age seven. He received general music instruction at the local high school and worked to create his own compositions. Some of his works were considered admirable for his age. He even composed music congruent to the personalities of friends, who took note of the anomaly. He studied famous poets and philosophers and was impressed with the works of other famous composers of the time. After his father’s death in 1826, he went to Leipzig to study law (to meet the terms of his inheritance). In 1829 he continued law studies in Heidelberg, where he became a lifelong member of Corps Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg. In 1830 he left the study of law to return to music, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, assured him he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but an injury to his right hand (from a practicing method) ended that dream. He then focused his energies on composition, and studied under Heinrich Dorn, a German composer and conductor of the Leipzig opera. Schumann visited relatives in Zwickau and Schneeberg and performed at a concert given by Clara Wieck, age 13 at the time. In 1834 he published ‘A new journal for music’, praising some past composers and deriding others. He met Felix Mendelssohn at Wieck’s house in Leigzig and lauded the greatness of his compositions, along with those of Johannes Brahms. He also wrote a work, hoping to use proceeds from its sale towards a monument for Beethoven, whom he highly admired. He composed symphonies, operas, orchestral and chamber works, and also wrote biographies. Until 1840 he wrote strictly for piano, but then began composing for orchestra and voice. That year he composed 168 songs. He also receive a Doctorate degree from the University of Jena that year. An aesthete and influential music critic, he was one of the most regarded composers of the Romantic era. He published his works in the ‘New journal for music’, which he co-founded. In 1840, against the wishes of his father, he married Clara Wieck, daughter of his former teacher, and they had four children: Marie, Julie, Eugenie, and Felix. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert career, the earnings from which formed a substantial part of her father’s fortune. In 1841 he wrote 2 of his 4 symphonies. In 1843 he was awarded a professorship in the Conservatory of Music, which Mendelssohn had founded in Leipzig that same year, When he and Clara went to Russia for her performances, he was questioned as to whether he also was a musician. He harbored resentment for her success as a pianist, which exceeded his ability as a pianist and reputation as a composer. From 1844-1853 he was engaged in setting Goethe’s Faust to music, but he began having persistent nervous prostration and developed neurasthenia (nervous fears of things, like metal objects and drugs). In 1846 he felt he had recovered and began traveling to Vienna, Prague, and Berlin, where he was received with enthusiasm. His only opera was written in 1848, and an orchestral work in 1849. In 1850 he succeeded Ferdinand Hiller as musical director at Dusseldorf, but was a poor conductor and soon aroused the opposition of the musicians, claiming he was impossible on the platform. From 1850-1854 he composed a wide variety of genres, but critics have considered his works during this period inferior to earlier works. In 1851 he visited Switzerland, Belgium, and returned to Leipzig. That year he finished his fourth symphony. He then went to Dusseldorf and began editing his complete works and making an anthology on the subject of music. He again was plagued with imaginary voices (angels, ghosts or demons) and in 1854 jumped off a bridge into the Rhine River, but was rescued by boatmen and taken home. For the last two years of his life, after the attempted suicide, Schumann was confined to a sanitarium in Endenich near Bonn, at his own request, and his wife was not allowed to see him. She finally saw him two days before he died, but he was unable to speak. He was diagnosed with psychotic melancholia, but died of pneumonia without recovering from the mental illness. Speculations as to the cause of his late term maladies was that he may have suffered from syphilis, contracted early in life, and treated with mercury, unknown as a neurological poison at the time. A report on his autopsy said he had a tumor at the base of the brain. It is also surmised he may have had bipolar disorder, accounting for mood swings and changes in his productivity. From the time of his death Clara devoted herself to the performance and interpretation of her husband’s works. John Perry

James McGranahan

1840 - 1907 Composer of "[O praise and bless the Lord, my soul]" 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 J. Kirkpatrick

1838 - 1921 Person Name: Wm. J. Kirkpatrick Composer of "[O bless the Lord, my soul]" in Glorious Praise William J. Kirkpatrick (b. Duncannon, PA, 1838; d. Philadelphia, PA, 1921) received his musical training from his father and several other private teachers. A carpenter by trade, he engaged in the furniture business from 1862 to 1878. He left that profession to dedicate his life to music, serving as music director at Grace Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Kirkpatrick compiled some one hundred gospel song collections; his first, Devotional Melodies (1859), was published when he was only twenty-one years old. Many of these collections were first published by the John Hood Company and later by Kirkpatrick's own Praise Publishing Company, both in Philadelphia. Bert Polman