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Keep me, Saviour, near thy side
Appears in 16 hymnals Topics: Faith and Trust Used With Tune: [Keep me, Saviour, near thy side]
Keep me, Saviour, near thy side
[Keep me, Savior, near Thy side]
Appears in 1 hymnal Composer and/or Arranger: G. F. R. Incipit: 54323 65543 23655 Used With Text: Keep Me, Savior
[Keep me, Savior, near Thy side]
Keep Me, Savior
Hymnal: Pure Delight #41 (1883) First Line: Keep me, Savior, near Thy side Refrain First Line: Keep me Languages: English Tune Title: [Keep me, Savior, near Thy side]
Keep Me, Savior
Keep me, Savior, near thy side
Author: Frank Sewall Hymnal: A Short Liturgy for Missionary Service ... for the Use of The New Church #d20 (1889) Languages: English
Keep me, Savior, near thy side
Keep me, Savior, near thy side
Author: Frank Sewall Hymnal: A Liturgy for the New Church #d54 (1878) Languages: English
Keep me, Savior, near thy side
George F. Root
1820 - 1895 Person Name: G. F. R. Composer of "[Keep me, Savior, near Thy side]" in Pure Delight Root, George F., MUS. DOC, born in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Mass., Aug. 30, 1820. He is much more widely known as a composer of popular music than as a hymn writer. Four of his hymns are in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, 1878. Nos. 16, 100, 293, and 297. A sympathetic biographical sketch, with portrait, is in The Tonic Sol-Fa Reporter, Sep. 1886. He died Aug. 6, 1895.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)
=====================
George Frederick Root was born in Sheffield, Mass., August 30, 1820. His father moved to North Reading, near Boston, when the boy was six years old, and there his youth was spent.
He was always fond of music— not singing at all as a boy, but played upon every kind of instrument that came in his way. At thirteen it was his pride that he could "play a tune" on as many instruments as he was years old. His dream of life was to be a musician, although such an ambition was looked down upon by all his relatives and friends, excepting a fond mother. In the fall of 1838 he went to Boston and made an engagement to work for Mr. A. N. Johnson and take lessons on the piano.
His father and one of the brothers were at the time in South America, and the mother, with six younger children, was at home on the farm. When he secured the engagement with Mr. Johnson to receive three dollars a week and board and lessons, the neighbors became interested and encouraged him to go ahead, they promising to help look after the farm and see that the family got along. The young man's happiness over these events can better be imagined than described.
On the second day of October, 1838, he entered upon his duties in his new heaven on earth located at Harmony Hall, Mr. Johnson's music-room, in Boston. His duties were to see to the fires, care for the room, answer callers, give information about Mr. Johnson when he was out, and practice his lessons when not otherwise engaged. He worked industriously and made steady progress. It was but a few weeks till Mr. Johnson had him playing for the prayer-meeting, and but a few more till he began turning over pupils to him. In about seven weeks' time Mr. Johnson encouraged him by a considerable increase of salary. A most important event to him was meeting Dr. Lowell Mason and being accepted as a bass singer in the celebrated Bowdoin Street choir. Also, on Mr. Johnson's recommendation, he began taking private voice lessons of Mr. Geo. Jas. Webb, the then celebrated voice teacher of Boston. He continued at least a year with Mr. Webb.
His first real singing class was taught the following fall, 1839, at the North End. It lasted nearly through the winter, and on the closing night his class made him a present of a silver goblet, suitably engraved, which he kept among his treasures.
Before the first year was up Mr. Johnson proposed a five year partnership, by which Mr. Root was to receive one-third of their earnings, and the former was to have the privilege of visiting Germany part of the time if he chose. They then changed their quarters to three rooms in the basement of Park Street Church. The annual rental was six hundred dollars. They were kept quite busy.
At this time Dr. Mason's music teaching in the public schools was a growing success, and Messrs. Johnson and Root were employed to assist him. Drs. Mason and Webb had introduced what is now called Musical Conventions a year or two previous to this. They called them "The Teachers' Class." Teachers and singers were called to Boston from surrounding territory to study and practice pretty much as they do now at normals.
In 1841 Mr. Root became one of the teachers in this class. He taught vocal training and continued this work for years afterward in Dr. Mason's teachers' classes, and later incorporated the same method in his own normals. During this year Mr. Johnson went to Germany, and left the two large church choirs (Winter Street and Park Street) in charge of Mr. Root. One of the organs was played by a pupil — Mr. S. A. Bancroft.
Everything went smoothly during Mr. Johnson's absence as it did also after his return. During the last year of the five-year partnership, Mr. Root was called to take the organ at Bowdoin Street, Mr. Mason changing to Winter Street. An amicable settlement was made between Messrs. Johnson and Root, and the partnership dissolved.
In 1811, Mr. Jacob Abbott (father of Lyman Abbott)and his three brothers had established a young ladies' school in New York City. They wanted a music teacher, and offered the position to Mr. Root. They also secured him the organ and choir of the Mercer Street Church, with prospects for other good work. It required pretty strong persuasive arguments to tempt Mr. Root to leave Boston, he was doing well there, and as the sequel shows, there was an attraction in Boston that held him in too tight a grasp to be relinquished by the mere offer of greater power and place. He made up his mind, however, only after getting the consent of the powders of Boston to take with him this [to him] the greatest attraction of the city — Miss Mary Olive Woodman — an accomplished lady, a sweet singer, and a member of a prominent family of musicians. He went to New York first to prepare a home, and in August, 1845, returned for his bride, who took her place in his New York choir as leading soprano, and through his long and eventful career she was ever at his side, a true helpmeet.
He was soon employed at Rutger's Female Institute, Miss Haines' School for Young Ladies, Union Theological Seminary and the New York State Institution for the Blind. Within six weeks after he arrived in New York his time was fully occupied. He continued with Mr. Abbott's young ladies' school ten years.
While teaching in New York he continued his summer work with Messrs. Mason and Webb in Teachers' Classes. Up to the year 1849 he had written but little music; only a few hymn tunes while in Boston. He needed more music for the young ladies of his schools, so he made his first book, The Young Ladies' Choir, of which he had enough copies made for his own use, as he had no thought of offering it to the public. Then in connection with Mr. J. E. Sweetser, they compiled the Root and Sweetser's Collection.
Mr. Root did work enough for two men, hence broke down in health. Mr. Abbott suggested that he take a trip to Paris. After weighing the matter carefully, in December, 1853, he sailed, and in due time arrived at Paris, where he began studying French, voice culture and piano under celebrated teachers. After spending nearly a year abroad, he returned home in improved health and ready for active work. He began to feel the need of new music for his classes, and after some thought decided upon a musical play ; the subject and title, The Flower Queen.
At the Institution for the Blind was a young lady, a former pupil, but now a teacher who had shown some poetical talent. He asked her to help him with the words. He would suggest in prose what the flowers might say and she would put it into rhyme. She did it so well that it seldom needed any alteration. This lady was the now famous Fanny Crosby. The cantata became very popular. About this time Mr. Root wrote a half dozen simple songs for the people. They all sold pretty well, but Hazel Dell and Rosalie, the Prairie Flower, became the most popular, and had a large sale.
It was in the summer of 1853 that the first real normal was held. Mr. Root originated it, and held it in New York. The principal teachers were Messrs. Mason, Root, Hastings, and Bradbury. This school became famous. Sessions were also held at North Reading, Mass., a village near Mr. Root's "Willow Farm Home," with Dr. Mason, Mr. Webb, Mr. Bradbury and himself as principal teachers.
About this time Mr. Root decided to give up his work in New York, and devote himself entirely to conventions, normal work and authorship. He was eminently successful. Among the most eminent teachers and composers of our country have been students in Dr. Geo. F. Root's Normal Musical Institute.
In 1860 Dr. Root settled in Chicago and entered the music publishing business with his brother E. T. Root, and C. M. Cady, as "Root & Cady," Mr. Root's reputation being the most important capital of the firm. His books and popular songs soon made the new firm prosperous. Then came the war with its horror. Dr. Root wielded his musical sword in the way of writing war songs, which made him famous. The Battle Cry of Freedom, Just Before the Battle, Mother, and others, made thousands of dollars for the music house.
In the great Chicago fire of 1871 the interests of the firm of Root & Cady became engulfed in the general ruin. Their loss was upward of a quarter of a million dollars. They then sold their book catalogue, plates and copyrights to John Church & Co., of Cincinnati, and the sheet music plates and copyrights to S. Brainard's Sons, Cleveland. These sales realized about §130,000. The final result was that Dr. Root, his talented son F. W., and others became connected with John Church & Co. Under this new business relationship Mr. Root went right on with his normal and convention work; also issued a great many new books and cantatas. In 1872 the Chicago University very worthily conferred upon him the degree Doctor of Music.
In 1886 he made a trip to Scotland and England, and arranged with publishers to issue some of his cantatas. He was royally received.
Dr. Root was the author of about seventy-five books, nearly two hundred songs in sheet form, and many popular gospel songs. Dr. Root occupies a prominent place in the musical history of this country. It was Dr. Mason who lifted music from almost nothing and gave it an impetus, but he left no better follower than Dr. Root to carry on his work. He was a man of spotless integrity and high Christian character, and to know him was to love him.
At the time of Dr. Root's death he was at Bailey Island, Maine, a summer resort, where he and other relatives had cottages. On August 6, 1895, he was seized with neuralgia of the heart — and died within one hour. He was buried at North Reading, Mass., his old home.
--Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.
George F. Root
Maria Luigi Cherubini
1760 - 1842 Person Name: Cherubini Composer of "DALLAS" in Carmina Sacra Luigi Cherubini (Italian: [luˈiːdʒi keruˈbiːni]; 8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries.
Cherubini was born Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini in Florence. There is uncertainty about his exact date of birth. Although 14 September is sometimes stated, evidence from baptismal records and Cherubini himself suggests the 8th is correct. Perhaps the strongest evidence is his first name, Maria, which is traditional for a child born on 8 September, feast-day of the Nativity of the Virgin. His instruction in music began at the age of six with his father, Bartolomeo, maestro al cembalo ("Master of the harpsichord", in other words, ensemble leader from the harpsichord). Considered a child prodigy, Cherubini studied counterpoint and dramatic style at an early age. By the time he was thirteen, he had composed several religious works.
In 1780, he was awarded a scholarship by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to study music in Bologna and Milan. Cherubini's early opera serie used libretti by Apostolo Zeno, Metastasio (Pietro Trapassi), and others that adhered closely to standard dramatic conventions. His music was strongly influenced by Niccolò Jommelli, Tommaso Traetta, and Antonio Sacchini, who were the leading composers of the day. The first of his two comic works, Lo sposo di tre e marito di nessuna, premiered at a Venetian theater in November 1783.
Feeling constrained by Italian traditions and eager to experiment, Cherubini traveled to London in 1785 where he produced two opere serie and an opera buffa for the King's Theater. In the same year, he made an excursion to Paris with his friend Giovanni Battista Viotti, who presented him to Marie Antoinette and Parisian society. Cherubini received an important commission to write Démophon to a French libretto by Jean-François Marmontel that would be his first tragédie en musique. Except for a brief return trip to London and to Turin for an opera seria commissioned by the King of the House of Savoy, Cherubini spent the rest of his life in France where he was initiated into Grand Orient de France "Saint-Jean de Palestine" Masonic Lodge in 1784.
Title page of the first edition of Cherubini's Médée, full score, 1797.
Cherubini adopted the French version of his name, Marie-Louis-Charles-Zénobi-Salvador Cherubini; this appears in all extant documents that show his full name after 1790, though his Italian name is favored nowadays. Performances of Démophon were favorably received at the Grand Opéra in 1788. With Viotti's help, the Théâtre de Monsieur in the Tuileries appointed Cherubini as its director in 1789. Three years later, after a move to the rue Feydeau and the fall of the monarchy, the company became known as the Théâtre Feydeau. This position gave Cherubini the opportunity to read countless libretti and choose one that best suited his temperament.
Cherubini's music began to show more originality and daring. His first major success was Lodoïska (1791), which was admired for its realistic heroism. This was followed by Eliza (1794), set in the Swiss Alps, and Médée (1797), Cherubini's best-known work. Les deux journées (1800), in which Cherubini simplified his style, was a popular success. These and other operas were premièred at the Théâtre Feydeau or the Opéra-Comique. Feeling financially secure, he married Anne Cécile Tourette in 1794 and began a family of three children.
The fallout from the French Revolution affected Cherubini until the end of his life. Politics forced him to hide his connections with the former aristocracy and seek governmental appointments. Although Napoléon found him too complex, Cherubini wrote at least one patriotic work per year for more than a decade. He was appointed Napoléon's director of music in Vienna for part of 1805 and 1806, whereupon he conducted several of his works in that city.
After Les deux journées, Parisian audiences began to favor younger composers such as Boieldieu. Cherubini's opera-ballet Anacréon was an outright failure and most stage works after it did not achieve success. Faniska, produced in 1806, was an exception, receiving an enthusiastic response, in particular, by Haydn and Beethoven. Les Abencérages (1813), an heroic drama set in Spain during the last days of the Moorish kingdom of Granada, was Cherubini's attempt to compete with Spontini's La vestale; it received critical praise but few performances.
Disappointed with his lack of acclaim in the theater, Cherubini turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses, two requiems, and many shorter pieces. During this period (under the restored monarchy) he was appointed Surintendant de la Musique du Roi, a position he would hold until the fall of the Bourbon Dynasty. In 1815 London's Royal Philharmonic Society commissioned him to write a symphony, an overture, and a composition for chorus and orchestra, the performances of which he went especially to London to conduct, increasing his fame.
Cherubini's Requiem in C minor (1816), commemorating the anniversary of the execution of King Louis XVI of France, was a huge success. The work was greatly admired by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms. In 1836, Cherubini wrote a Requiem in D minor to be performed at his own funeral. It is for male choir only, as the religious authorities had criticised his use of female voices in the earlier work.
In 1822, Cherubini became director of the Conservatoire and completed his textbook, Cours de contrepoint et de fugue, in 1835. His role at the Conservatoire would bring him into conflict with the young Hector Berlioz, who went on to portray the old composer in his memoirs as a crotchety pedant. Some critics, such as Basil Deane, maintain that Berlioz's depiction has distorted Cherubini's image with posterity. There are many allusions to Cherubini's personal irritability among his contemporaries; Adolphe Adam wrote, "some maintain his temper was very even, because he was always angry." Nevertheless, Cherubini had many friends, including Szymanowska, Rossini, Chopin and, above all, the artist Ingres. The two had mutual interests: Cherubini was a keen amateur painter and Ingres enjoyed practising the violin. In 1841, Ingres produced the most celebrated portrait of the old composer.
Although chamber music does not make up a large portion of his output, what he did write was important. Wilhelm Altmann, writing in his Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler (Handbook for String Quartet Players) about Cherubini's six string quartets, states that they are first rate and regarded Nos. 1 and 3 as masterworks. His String Quintet for two violins, viola and two cellos is also considered a first rate work.
During his life, Cherubini received France's highest and most prestigious honors. These included the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (1814) and Membre de l'Académie des Beaux-Arts (1815). In 1841, he was made Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur, the first musician to receive that title.
Cherubini died in Paris at age 81 and is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery, just four metres from his friend Chopin. His tomb was designed by the architect Achille Leclère and includes a figure by the sculptor Augustin-Alexandre Dumont representing "Music" crowning a bust of the composer with a wreath.
--en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Maria Luigi Cherubini
