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Robert Schumann

1810 - 1856 Topics: Testimony and Witness Adapted from of "CANONBURY" in The United Methodist Hymnal 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

G. W. Kitchin

1827 - 1912 Person Name: George William Kitchin Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "Lift High the Cross" in The United Methodist Hymnal A scholar and Anglican clergyman, George W. Kitchin (b. Naughton, Suffolk, England, 1827; d. Durham, England, 1912) spent most of his life in academic institutions. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1852. He served initially as a headmaster in Twyford, Hampshire, and then as a tutor at Oxford (1863-1883). Later he served as Dean of Winchester Cathedral from 1883 to 1894 and of Durham Cathedral from 1894 to 1912; Kitchin was also chancellor of Durham University the last few years of his life. His publications include A Life of Pope Pius II (1881), a three volume work entitled A History of France (1877), and archeological writings. Bert Polman

Rhea F. Miller

1894 - 1966 Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "주 에 수 보 나 더 귀 한 짓 은 없 네 (I'd Rather Have Jesus)" in 찬송과 예배 = Chansong gwa yebae = Come, Let Us Worship Rhea F. Miller was the wife of Dr. H. V. Miller, one of the General Superintendents of the Church Of The Nazarene. After her husband's death Mrs. Miller taught piano and traveled all around the area in her little gray Nash coupe, teaching piano. She had a special mission in life and that was to get into pastors’ homes and teach their kids how to play the piano so they would have something to contribute to the church when they became adults. She would offer to teach these kids for free and hope to make up the difference with her other students. She was a very inspirational woman and made a deep impact upon many lives. She was very positive, always smiling, full of encouragement, and always enthusiastic. Her father, Martin James Ross, such had been no more than a drunk for some time and would actually steal money from his wife’s purse, just to get enough money to buy another drink. Mrs. Ross was a good, solid, faithful Christian, though. And she just kept living her life for Jesus. She would walk to church in any kind of weather- rain, snow, sleet, mud, whatever it was, just to get there to be with God’s people. Eventually her steadfastness broke through the walls her husband had isolated himself with. He surrendered to the wooing of God’s Spirit and was wonderfully delivered from the awful bondage of sin. He stood one night in a service in Brooktondale and began his testimony of how much Jesus meant to him… “I’d rather have Jesus than all the gold or silver in the whole world. I’d rather have Him than anything this world has to offer.” Mrs. Miller sat there and heard the words of her father’s testimony and a new song was born- “I’d Rather Have Jesus”. Bev Shea said he was 23 when he found the song in 1932. Mr. Shea didn’t copyright his version until 1939. Here he describes (from How Sweet the Sound) the impact that this song had on him: “One Sunday morning in the family home by the piano he discovered a poem with the title "I'd Rather Have Jesus." At the age of twenty-three, I was living at home with my parents, continuing to work at Mutual Life Insurance and studying voice. Going to the piano one Sunday morning, I found a poem waiting for me there. I recognized my mother's handwriting. She had copied the words of a poem by Mrs. Rhea F. Miller, knowing that I would read the beautiful message, which speaks of choice. As I read these precious words: "I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause. I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause." I found myself singing the words in a melody that expressed the feelings of my heart." Mrs. Miller wrote some other songs, too. One was for a Missionary Convention, a little chorus based on Psalm 126:6. The words went like this: “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves”- then a repeat of that and close. She also wrote a song called "It Is Worth All It Costs To Be Holy", copyrighted June 15, 1937, Nazarene Publishing House. That was in our hymnals for a while. Ron Kelly (former student and friend)

Fred Pratt Green

1903 - 2000 Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "The Church of Christ, in Every Age" in The United Methodist Hymnal The name of the Rev. F. Pratt Green is one of the best-known of the contemporary school of hymnwriters in the British Isles. His name and writings appear in practically every new hymnal and "hymn supplement" wherever English is spoken and sung. And now they are appearing in American hymnals, poetry magazines, and anthologies. Mr. Green was born in Liverpool, England, in 1903. Ordained in the British Methodist ministry, he has been pastor and district superintendent in Brighton and York, and now served in Norwich. There he continued to write new hymns "that fill the gap between the hymns of the first part of this century and the 'far-out' compositions that have crowded into some churches in the last decade or more." --Seven New Hymns of Hope , 1971. Used by permission.

Cyril Taylor

1907 - 1991 Person Name: Cyril V. Taylor Topics: Testimony and Witness Composer of "SHELDONIAN" in The United Methodist Hymnal Cyril V. Taylor (b. Wigan, Lancashire, England, 1907; d. Petersfield, England, 1992) was a chorister at Magdalen College School, Oxford, and studied at Christ Church, Oxford, and Westcott House, Cambridge. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1932, he served the church as both pastor and musician. His positions included being a producer in the religious broadcasting department of the BBC (19391953), chaplain of the Royal School of Church Music (1953-1958), vicar of Cerne Abbas in Dorsetshire (1958-1969), and precentor of Salisbury Cathedral (1969-1975). He contributed twenty hymn tunes to the BBC Hymn Book (1951), which he edited, and other tunes to the Methodist Hymns and Psalms (1983). He also edited 100 Hymns for Today (1969) and More Hymns for Today (1980). Writer of the booklet Hymns for Today Discussed (1984), Taylor was chairman of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1975 to 1980. Bert Polman

Cesáreo Gabarain

1936 - 1991 Person Name: Cesareo Gabaraín Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "You Are the Seed" in The United Methodist Hymnal Cesáreo Gabaráin, a Spanish priest involved in liturgical renewal following Vatican II. Bert Polman

Fred Kaan

1929 - 2009 Topics: Testimony and Witness Translator of "Christ Is Risen" in The United Methodist Hymnal Fred Kaan Hymn writer. His hymns include both original work and translations. He sought to address issues of peace and justice. He was born in Haarlem in the Netherlands in July 1929. He was baptised in St Bavo Cathedral but his family did not attend church regularly. He lived through the Nazi occupation, saw three of his grandparents die of starvation, and witnessed his parents deep involvement in the resistance movement. They took in a number of refugees. He became a pacifist and began attending church in his teens. Having become interested in British Congregationalism (later to become the United Reformed Church) through a friendship, he was attended Western College in Bristol. He was ordained in 1955 at the Windsor Road Congregational Church in Barry, Glamorgan. In 1963 he was called to be minister of the Pilgrim Church in Plymouth. It was in this congregation that he began to write hymns. The first edition of Pilgrim Praise was published in 1968, going into second and third editions in 1972 and 1975. He continued writing many more hymns throughout his life. Dianne Shapiro, from obituary written by Keith Forecast in Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fred-kaan-minister-and-celebrated-hymn-writer-1809481.html)

Pablo D. Sosa

1933 - 2020 Topics: Testimony and Witness Composer of "CENTRAL" in The United Methodist Hymnal Pablo Sosa (b. 1933 - d. 2020) grew up and was educated in Argentina, the U.S. (Westminster Choir College), and Germany. For years he pastored a large Methodist congregation in Buenos Aires, Argentina while composing songs, leading choirs, editing hymnals, producing religious broadcasts, and teaching liturgy and hymnology at a seminary. Meanwhile, life in Argentina pushed him to question his assumptions about what’s best for congregational singing. During Argentina’s “dirty war,” two young women from his church were disappeared, possibly for working among the poor. As Catholic and Protestant churches hesitated whether to speak out, remain silent, or support the government, many people lost faith. Economic meltdown after the war plunged many middle-class Argentinians into poverty. Sosa’s growing social awareness widened his vision for “lifting up hope with a song.” He often describes worship as “the fiesta of the faithful,” where all are welcome and all music is seen as “part of the ‘song of the earth,’ which answers the psalmist’s call ‘Sing joyfully to God, all the earth!’ (Psalm 98:4).” Whether in his home church, Iglesia Evangélica Metodista La Tercera (Third Methodist Church) in Buenos Aires, or at churches or conferences around the world, he urges people, “Put your body into worship!” And he reminds them of the biblical connection between justice and worship. CICW Website Bio (http://www.calvin.edu/worship)

Michael Perry

1942 - 1996 Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "How Shall They Hear the Word of God" in The United Methodist Hymnal Initially studying mathematics and physics at Dulwich College, Michael A. Perry (b. Beckenham, Kent, England, 1942; d. England, 1996) was headed for a career in the sciences. However, after one year of study in physics at the University of London, he transferred to Oak Hill College to study theology. He also studied at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and received a M.Phil. from the University of Southhampton in 1973. Ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1966, Perry served the parish of St. Helen's in Liverpool as a youth worker and evangelist. From 1972 to 1981 he was the vicar of Bitterne in Southhampton and from 1981 to 1989, rector of Eversley in Hampshire and chaplain at the Police Staff College. He then became vicar of Tonbridge in Kent, where he remained until his death from a brain tumor in 1996. Perry published widely in the areas of Bible study and worship. He edited Jubilate publications such as Hymns far Today's Church (1982), Carols for Today (1986), Come Rejoice! (1989), and Psalms for Today (1990). Composer of the musical drama Coming Home (1987), he also wrote more than two hundred hymns and Bible versifications. Bert Polman

Kurt Kaiser

1934 - 2018 Topics: Testimony and Witness Author of "Pass It On" in The United Methodist Hymnal Kurt Kaiser was born December 17, 1934, in Chicago. He attended American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. He moved to Waco, Texas in 1959 in order to join Word Music, where he later worked as vice president and director of music. He arranged and produced several albums. He composed more than 300 songs, and with Ralph Carmichael developed Christian youth musicals. He was a longtime member of the Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco, Texas. He later helped start Dayspring Baptist Church in Waco. He was an acclaimed pianist who accompanied George Beverly Shea at Billy Graham crusades. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and was elected to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. He died November 12, 2018, in Waco. Dianne Shapiro, from obituary in "Baptist Standard" (https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/obituaries/obituary-kurt-kaiser/) and "Gospel Music Hall of Fame" (http://gospelmusichalloffame.org/kurt-kaiser/) accessed 2-8-2019