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Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Composer of "CYPRUS" in Redemption Songs 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

Person Name: Anon. Author of "Lo! round the throne, at God's right hand" in A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ 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.

Mary Lundie Duncan

1814 - 1840 Person Name: Mary Duncan Author of "Lo, round the throne, at God's right hand" in The Westminster Abbey Hymn-Book Duncan, Mary, née Lundie, daughter of the Rev. Robert Lundie, Parish Minister of Kelso, and Mary Grey Lundie Duncan, was born at Kelso, April 26, 1814. On July 11, 1836, she was married to the William Wallace Duncan, the son of Rev. Henry Duncan, D.D., founder of the Savings Bank movement and minister in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. In the end of December, 1839, she took a chill, which resulted in a fever and died on Jan. 5, 1840. Her hymns, mostly written for her children between July and December, 1839, appeared, in 1841, in her Memoir, by her mother, and were issued separately, in 1842, as Rhymes for my Children, to the number of 23. The best known are, "Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me," and "My Saviour, be Thou near me." Dianne Shapiro, from John Julian "Dictionary of Hymnology" and email from Prof. Charles W. Munn (biographer of Henry Duncan)

Rowland Hill

1744 - 1833 Author of "Lo! Round the Throne" in Redemption Songs Hill, Rowland, M.A., son of Sir Rowland Hill, Bart., was born at Hawkstone, near Shrewsbury, Aug. 23,1744, and educated at Shrewsbury Grammar School, Eton, and St. John's College, Cambridge (B.A. 1769). Taking Holy Orders, he was for a time curate of Kingston, near Taunton. Leaving his curacy, but without renouncing his Orders or his connection with the Church of England, he itinerated for some twelve years, preaching mostly in Wilts, Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and London. At Wotton-under-Edge he built a Chapel, where he often preached, and also opened the well-known Surrey Chapel, London, in 1783. At the latter place he ministered for nearly fifty years. He took great interest in Evangelical and Mission work, was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society, and a member of the first committee of the Religious Tract Society. He died April 11, 1833, He was the author of several prose works; he also compiled the following hymnbooks:— (1) A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Use of the Poor, 1774. (2) A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, chiefly intended for Public Worship, 1783. This was enlarged in 1787, and a Supplement was added in 1796. Other revisions followed, the last being in 1830. (3) Divine Hymns attempted in easy language for the Use of Children, 1790 (2nd ed. 1794; later editions 1808 & 1819). The hymns in this work, he tells us, are, with the exception of Nos. 24 and 37, his own, revised and corrected by some one he is not permitted to name (Preface iv.-viii.). (4) A Collection of Hymns for Children, 1808. (5) Hymns for Schools, 1832. In these collections no authors' names are given, and his own contributions, except in the case of the children's Hymns, 1790, are difficult to determine. By common consent the following, including some from the 1790 Hymns, are attributed to him:— 1. Come, Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Whitsuntide. No. 30 of his Divine Hymns for Children, 1790, in 5 st. of 4 1. and headed "A Child's Prayer to God the Holy Spirit." It was repeated in the later editions of the Divine Hymns, and is found in modern hymn books. 2. Dear Friend of friendless sinners, hear. A Prayer for Rest in God. In his Psalms & Hymns &c, 1783, No. 89, in 4 st. of 6 1., and headed "A Prayer for the promised Rest." In modern hymnbooks its use is limited. 3. Happy the children who betimes. Godly Education. No. 8 in his Divine Hymns, 1790, in 5 st. of 4 1., and headed " The Blessings of a godly Education." It was repeated in later editions, and, sometimes with the omission of st. v. in modern collections for children. 4. Lord, we raise our feeble voices. Praise to Jesus . Major, in his Book of Praise for Home & School, dates this hymn 1800. It is found in several collections for children. 5. My parents gave me, Lord. A Child's Dedication to God. No. 13 in his Divine Hymns, 1790, in 6 stanzas of 6 lines, and headed "A Child's Hymn on easy Dedication to God in Holy Baptism." It is in a few modern collections. 6. We sing His love Who once was slain. The Resurrection. Appeared in the 1796 Supplement to his Psalms & Hymns It is in American common use. 7. When Jesus first at heaven's Command. The Kingdom, of Christ exalted. Composed for the London Missionary Society, and printed in the Evangelical Magazine, 1797, vol. v. p. 263. It is appended to the author's sermon to the volunteers preached at Surrey Chapel, 1803, and was also included in the 1810 ed. of his Psalms & Hymns, No. 302, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines with the chorus, "Hail Immanuel," &c. 8. With heavenly power, 0 Lord defend. Departure of Ministers. Published in his Psalms & Hymns, 1783, No. 234, in 4 stanzas of 4 l,ines and headed "For Ministers at their Departure." In modern hymn books it is generally given in 2 stanzas. 9. Ye that in these [His] courts are found. Public Worship. This is usually attributed to R. Hill. It appeared, however, in Lady Huntingdon's Hymn Book, 1765, p. 404 (ed. 1773, p. 256), and can scarcely be his. In his Psalms & Hymns 1783. It is usually given as "Ye that in His courts," in modern collections. The person referred to as having revised the Divine Hymns, 1790, was the poet Cowper. The best known of R. Hill's hymns, "Cast thy burden on the Lord," and "Gently, my Saviour, let me down," are annotated under their respective first lines. His Life, by the Rev. E. Sidney, M.A., was published in 1834. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Frederick Bridge

1844 - 1924 Person Name: J. F. Bridge Composer of "ROFFENSIS" in The Westminster Abbey Hymn-Book Sir John Frederick Bridge CVO (5 December 1844 – 18 March 1924) was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer. From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist by the age of 24, at Manchester Cathedral. After six years there, he was invited to become organist at Westminster Abbey, where he remained for the rest of his career. He instituted several changes to modernise and improve the music-making at the Abbey and organised the music for several state occasions, including two coronations. As a teacher and lecturer, Bridge held posts at the Royal College of Music, Gresham College and the University of London. His students included the composers Arthur Benjamin and Noel Gay, the organists Edward Bairstow and Herbert Brewer, the conductor Landon Ronald and the early music pioneer Arnold Dolmetsch. His public lectures at Gresham College attracted large audiences, and they covered a wide range of subjects and musical periods. For 25 years, Bridge was conductor of the Royal Choral Society, with whom he performed many new works, including some of his own compositions and works by the British composers Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Parry. Bridge was born in Oldbury, then in Worcestershire, in central England, the eldest son of John Bridge and his wife, Rebecca née Cox. In 1850, his father was appointed a vicar-choral of Rochester Cathedral. Young Bridge was admitted to the cathedral choir as a "practising boy" (that is, a probationer). The choirboys were educated by another of the vicars-choral. The régime was severe in discipline and rudimentary in curriculum, but among the alumni of the choir school of this period were future organists of four English cathedrals and of Westminster Abbey. They included Bridge's younger brother Joseph, who eventually became organist of Chester Cathedral. Bridge's first participated in a great national commemoration in 1852, when, aged eight, he was allowed to help toll the cathedral bell to mark the death of the Duke of Wellington. When Bridge was nine, he and his father were members of the choir assembled by Michael Costa for the opening of the Crystal Palace in June 1854. At the age of 14 Bridge left the cathedral choir and was apprenticed to John Hopkins, organist of Rochester Cathedral. While still studying under Hopkins, Bridge was appointed organist of the village church of Shorne in 1851, and the following year moved to Strood Parish Church.[2] From 1863 to 1867 he studied composition with John Goss, professor of harmony at the Royal Academy of Music. Bridge said in 1897, "Very happy and improving lessons they were and it is impossible for me to over-estimate the value of the instruction given by that dear, simple-minded musician." In 1865 Bridge was appointed organist of Holy Trinity Church, Windsor. There he was encouraged and influenced by George Job Elvey, organist of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and made many friends including John Stainer and the young Hubert Parry. During his time at Windsor, Bridge passed the examination for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists, in 1867, and took his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Oxford. After four years at Windsor, Bridge achieved his ambition to become a cathedral organist, successfully competing for the post at Manchester Cathedral.[3] He spent six years there from 1869, with his brother Joseph as his assistant. While at Manchester, he took his Doctor of Music degree at Oxford in 1874, and was professor of harmony at Owens College from 1872. Under Bridge's leadership musical standards of the cathedral were improved, and the unsatisfactory old organ was replaced. The state of the existing instrument was described by The Manchester Guardian as "not only discreditable to Churchmen, but especially objectionable when existing in the cathedral church of a wealthy diocese.". The churchwarden, William Houldsworth gave £5,000, and a magnificent new instrument was built by Hill and Sons of London. In 1875 the organist and master of the choristers at Westminster Abbey, James Turle, retired. Bridge was invited to succeed him. As Turle was permitted to retain his former title in retirement, Bridge was formally "Permanent Deputy-Organist of Westminster Abbey" until Turle's death in 1882, but he was effectively in sole charge from the outset. The Musical Times wrote: The appointment of Dr. Bridge to the post of organist at Westminster Abbey … will be welcomed by all interested in the cause of church music. The improvement in the services at Manchester Cathedral since Dr. Bridge has held the position of organist, may be regarded as a proof that in the responsible office which he has now accepted he will do his utmost to advance the character of the music in the Abbey; and we sincerely hope that the Dean and Chapter will allow him that unlimited power over the choir which may enable him to raise it to the high state of efficiency which the public has a right to expect. To the general public, Bridge became known for organising the music, and composing some of it, for great state occasions, notably Queen Victoria's jubilee (1887), Edward VII's coronation (1902), the national memorial service for Edward VII (1910), George V's coronation (1911), and the reinauguration of Henry VII's Chapel as the chapel of the Order of the Bath (1913). In the musical world he was known for his special commemorations of English composers of the past. The first was a celebration of Henry Purcell in 1895, marking the bicentenary of Purcell's death. Bridge presented Purcell's Te Deum "purged of the 18th century accretions which had overlaid it". Later commemorations were of Orlando Gibbons (1907), and Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1910). Having worked successfully to have the organ at Manchester replaced, Bridge found himself obliged to do the same at the Abbey. He described the instrument he inherited as "a very old-fashioned affair". In 1884 the organ was completely rebuilt by Hill and Son to a very high specification. When the National Training School for Music was set up in 1876 under Arthur Sullivan, Bridge was appointed professor of organ. When the school was reconstituted as the Royal College of Music in 1883 he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint. In 1890 he was elected Gresham professor of music at Gresham College, London, and in 1903 he was appointed professor of music at the University of London. According to Guy Warrack and Christopher Kent in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "accounts of his teaching are not complimentary", but he was generally regarded as a highly successful lecturer, and Alcock's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article states, "Because of his persuasive style and apt illustrations, his lectures drew large audiences." His pupils at the Royal College and the Abbey included Edward Bairstow, Arthur Benjamin, Herbert Brewer, Arnold Dolmetsch, Noel Gay, Lloyd Powell and Landon Ronald. Bridge's enthusiasms were many and varied. His lectures at Gresham College were well known for the wide range of topics he covered. His articles for the musical press showed a similar variety; some examples are: "Purcell and Nicola Matteis"; "Samuel Pepys – A Lover of Musicke"; "A Seventeenth Century View of Musical Education"; and "The Musical Cries of London in Shakespeare's Time". In 1899 he was a pioneer of authentic performance of Handel's score for Messiah, purging it of 18th and 19th century reorchestrations. Bridge was the conductor of the Royal Choral Society from 1896 to 1921. In an article celebrating his work with the society, Herman Klein listed the new works that it had performed under Bridge's baton. They included six works by Elgar, four apiece by Parry, Stanford, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and works by Alexander Mackenzie, Frederick Cowen, Hamilton Harty, Ethel Smyth and Vaughan Williams. Bridge was married three times, first, in 1872, to Constance Ellen Moore (d. 1879); second, in 1883, to Helen Mary Flora Amphlett (d. 1906), and third, in 1914, to Marjory Wedgwood Wood (d. 1929). There were a son and a daughter of the first marriage, and a daughter of the second. Bridge was knighted in 1897, and created MVO in 1902 and CVO in 1911. He was awarded honorary degrees from the universities of Durham (1905) and Toronto (1908). Bridge retired as organist of the Abbey in 1918, but was granted the title of "Organist Emeritus" and continued to live in the Little Cloisters until his death six years later at the age of 79. His funeral took place at Glass, Aberdeenshire, where he was buried on 21 March 1924. --en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (excerpts)

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