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Ralph Vaughan Williams

1872 - 1958 Person Name: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) Arranger of "LASST UNS ERFREUEN" in Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal Through his composing, conducting, collecting, editing, and teaching, Ralph Vaughan Williams (b. Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, England, October 12, 1872; d. Westminster, London, England, August 26, 1958) became the chief figure in the realm of English music and church music in the first half of the twentieth century. His education included instruction at the Royal College of Music in London and Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as additional studies in Berlin and Paris. During World War I he served in the army medical corps in France. Vaughan Williams taught music at the Royal College of Music (1920-1940), conducted the Bach Choir in London (1920-1927), and directed the Leith Hill Music Festival in Dorking (1905-1953). A major influence in his life was the English folk song. A knowledgeable collector of folk songs, he was also a member of the Folksong Society and a supporter of the English Folk Dance Society. Vaughan Williams wrote various articles and books, including National Music (1935), and composed numerous arrangements of folk songs; many of his compositions show the impact of folk rhythms and melodic modes. His original compositions cover nearly all musical genres, from orchestral symphonies and concertos to choral works, from songs to operas, and from chamber music to music for films. Vaughan Williams's church music includes anthems; choral-orchestral works, such as Magnificat (1932), Dona Nobis Pacem (1936), and Hodie (1953); and hymn tune settings for organ. But most important to the history of hymnody, he was music editor of the most influential British hymnal at the beginning of the twentieth century, The English Hymnal (1906), and coeditor (with Martin Shaw) of Songs of Praise (1925, 1931) and the Oxford Book of Carols (1928). Bert Polman

Elizabeth Rundle Charles

1828 - 1896 Person Name: Elizabeth R. Charles Translator of "A Hymn Of Glory Let Us Sing" in American Lutheran Hymnal Charles, Elizabeth, née Rundle, is the author of numerous and very popular works intended to popularize the history of early Christian life in Great Britain; of Luther and his times; of Wesley and his work; the struggles of English civil wars; and kindred subjects as embodied in the Chronicles of the Schönherg-Cotta Family, the Diary of Kitty Trevelyan, &c, was born at Tavistock, Devonshire, Her father was John Rundle, M.P., and her husband, Andrew Paton Charles, Barrister-at-Law. Mrs. Charles has made some valuable contributions to hymnology, including original hymns and translations from the Latin and German. These were given in her:— (1) The Voice of Christian Life in Song; or, Hymns and Hymn-writers of Many Lands and Ages, 1858; (2) The Three Wakings, and other Poems, 1859; and (3) The Chronicles of the Schönberg-Cotta Family; (4) Poems, New York, 1867. This has some additional pieces. Her hymn on the Annunciation, "Age after age shall call thee [her] blessed," appeared in her Three Wakings, &c., 1859. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ========================= Charles, Elizabeth, née Rundle. Mrs. Charles has assumed the name of "Rundle-Charles," as given in the 1890 edition of the Hymnal Companion. Other hymns in common use are:— 1. Around a Table, not a tomb. Holy Communion. Dated Oct. 1862. In her Poems, 1868, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. 2. Come, and rejoice with me. Joy in Christ. Some-times dated 1846. From her Three Wakings, 1859, p. 146, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "Eureka." 3. Jesus, what once Thou wast. Jesus the Unchangeable One. In Mrs. Brock's Children's Hymn Book, 1881. 4. Never further than Thy Cross. Passiontide. In The Family Treasury, Feb. 1860. 5. What marks the dawning of the Year? New Year. From her Three Wakings, 1859, p. 155. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907) ====================== Charles, Elizabeth, née Rundle, pp. 218, ii.; 1556, i. Mrs. Rundle-Charles was born Jan. 2, 1828, married in 1851, and died March 28, 1896. Her hymn, "The little birds fill all the air with their glee" (Thankfulness), was published in her Three Waitings, 1859, p. 165, as a "Song for an Infant School." It is found in The Sunday School Hymnary, 1905, and others. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

The Venerable Bede

673 - 735 Person Name: Bede Author of "A Hymn Of Glory Let Us Sing" in American Lutheran Hymnal Bede (b. circa 672-673; d. May 26, 735), also known as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede, was an English monk at Northumbrian monastery at Monkwearmouth (now Jarrow). Sent to the monastery at the young age of seven, he became deacon very early on, and then a priest at the age of thirty. An author and scholar, he is particularly known for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which gained him the title “Father of English History.” He also wrote many scientific and theological works, as well as poetry and music. Bede is the only native of Great Britain to have ever been made a Doctor of the Church. He died on Ascension Day, May 26, 735, and was buried in Durham Cathedral. Laura de Jong ========================== Bede, Beda, or Baeda, the Venerable. This eminent and early scholar, grammarian, philosopher, poet, biographer, historian, and divine, was born in 673, near the place where, shortly afterwards, Benedict Biscop founded the sister monasteries of Wearmouth and Jarrow, on an estate conferred upon him by Ecgfrith, or Ecgfrid, king of Northumbria, possibly, as the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, Lives of the Saints (May), p. 399, suggests, "in the parish of Monkton, which appears to have been one of the earliest endowments of the monastery." His education was carried on at one or other of the monasteries under the care of Benedict Biscop until his death, and then of Ceolfrith, Benedict's successor, to such effect that at the early age of nineteen he was deemed worthy, for his learning and piety's sake, to be ordained deacon by St. John of Beverley, who was then bishop of Hexham, in 691 or 692. From the same prelate he received priest's orders ten years afterwards, in or about 702. The whole of his after-life he spent in study, dividing his time between the two monasteries, which were the only home he was ever to know, and in one of which (that of Jarrow) he died on May 26th, 735, and where his remains reposed until the 11th century, when they were removed to Durham, and re-interred in the same coffin as those of St. Cuthbett, where they were discovered in 1104. He was a voluminous author upon almost every subject, and as an historian his contribution to English history in the shape of his Historia Ecclesiastica is invaluable. But it is with him as a hymnist that we have to do here. I. In the list of his works, which Bede gives at the end of his Ecclesiastical History, he enumerates a Liber Hymnorum, containing hymns in “several sorts of metre or rhyme." The extant editions of this work are:— (1) Edited by Cassander, and published at Cologne, 1556; (2) in Wernsdorf's Poetae Latin Min., vol. ii. pp.239-244. II. Bede's contributions to the stores of hymnology were not large, consisting principally of 11 or at most 12 hymns; his authorship of some of these even is questioned by many good authorities. While we cannot look for the refined and mellifluous beauty of later Latin hymnists in the works of one who, like the Venerable Bede, lived in the infancy of ecclesiastical poetry; and while we must acknowledge the loss that such poetry sustains by the absence of rhyme from so many of the hymns, and the presence in some of what Dr. Neale calls such "frigid conceits" as the epanalepsis (as grammarians term it) where the first line of each stanza, as in "Hymnum canentes Martyrum," is repeated as the last; still the hymns with which we are dealing are not without their peculiar attractions. They are full of Scripture, and Bede was very fond of introducing the actual words of Scripture as part of his own composition, and often with great effect. That Bede was not free from the superstition of his time is certain, not only from his prose writings, but from such poems as his elegiac "Hymn on Virginity," written in praise and honour of Queen Etheldrida, the wife of King Ecgfrith, and inserted in his Ecclesiastical History, bk. iv., cap. xx. [Rev. Digby S. Wrangham, M.A.] -- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Richard Proulx

1937 - 2010 Arranger of "DEO GRACIAS" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Richard Proulx (b. St. Paul, MN, April 3, 1937; d. Chicago, IL, February 18, 2010). A composer, conductor, and teacher, Proulx was director of music at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois (1980-1997); before that he was organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington. He contributed his expertise to the Roman Catholic Worship III (1986), The Episcopal Hymnal 1982, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989), and the ecumenical A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (1992). He was educated at the University of Minnesota, MacPhail College of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the Royal School of Church Music in England. He composed more than 250 works. Bert Polman

Joseph Haydn

1732 - 1809 Person Name: Francis Joseph Haydn, 1732-1809 Composer of "BOWEN" in Evangelical Lutheran hymnal Franz Joseph Haydn (b. Rohrau, Austria, 1732; d. Vienna, Austria, 1809) Haydn's life was relatively uneventful, but his artistic legacy was truly astounding. He began his musical career as a choirboy in St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna, spent some years in that city making a precarious living as a music teacher and composer, and then served as music director for the Esterhazy family from 1761 to 1790. Haydn became a most productive and widely respected composer of symphonies, chamber music, and piano sonatas. In his retirement years he took two extended tours to England, which resulted in his "London" symphonies and (because of G. F. Handel's influence) in oratorios. Haydn's church music includes six great Masses and a few original hymn tunes. Hymnal editors have also arranged hymn tunes from various themes in Haydn's music. Bert Polman

John Bacchus Dykes

1823 - 1876 Person Name: John B. Dykes Composer of "ASCENSION" in Lutherförbundets Sångbok As a young child John Bacchus Dykes (b. Kingston-upon-Hull' England, 1823; d. Ticehurst, Sussex, England, 1876) took violin and piano lessons. At the age of ten he became the organist of St. John's in Hull, where his grandfather was vicar. After receiving a classics degree from St. Catherine College, Cambridge, England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1847. In 1849 he became the precentor and choir director at Durham Cathedral, where he introduced reforms in the choir by insisting on consistent attendance, increasing rehearsals, and initiating music festivals. He served the parish of St. Oswald in Durham from 1862 until the year of his death. To the chagrin of his bishop, Dykes favored the high church practices associated with the Oxford Movement (choir robes, incense, and the like). A number of his three hundred hymn tunes are still respected as durable examples of Victorian hymnody. Most of his tunes were first published in Chope's Congregational Hymn and Tune Book (1857) and in early editions of the famous British hymnal, Hymns Ancient and Modern. Bert Polman

Benjamin Webb

1819 - 1885 Person Name: Benjamin Webb, 1820 - 85 Translator, verse 4 of "A hymn of glory let us sing" in Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America Benjamin Webb (b. London, England, 1819; d. Marylebone, London, 1885) originally translated the text in eight stanzas, although six only appear in Lift Up Your Hearts. It was published in The Hymnal Noted (1852), produced by his friend John Mason Neale. Webb received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, England, and became a priest in the Church of England in 1843. Among the parishes he served was St. Andrews, Wells Street, London, where he worked from 1862 to 1881. Webb's years there coincided with the service of the talented choir director and organist Joseph Barnby, and the church became known for its excellent music program. Webb edited The Ecclesiologist, a periodical of the Cambridge Ecclesiological Society (1842-1868). A composer of anthems, Webb also wrote hymns and hymn translations and served as one of the editors of The Hymnary (1872). Bert Polman ================== Webb, Benjamin, M.A., was born in London in 1820, and was educated in St. Paul's School; whence he passed to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1838, B.A. 1842, M.A. 1845. Ordained by the Bishop [Monk] of Gloucester and Bristol he was Assistant Curate of Kemeston in Gloucestershire, 1843-44; of Christ Church, St. Pancras, 1847-49; and of Brasted, Kent, 1849-51; at which date he was presented to the P. C. of Sheen in Staffordshire, which he held until 1862, when he became Vicar of St. Andrews, Wells Street, London. In 1881 the Bishop [Jackson] of London collated him to the Prebend of Portpool in St. Paul's Cathedral. Mr. Webb was one of the Founders of the Cambridge Camden, afterwards the Ecclesiological Society; and the Editor of the Ecclesiologist from 1842 to 1868, as well as the General Editor of the Society's publications. His first appearance in print was as joint editor of Bishop Montague's Articles of Inquiry in 184; in 1843 he was joined with Mr. J. M. Neale in An Essay on Symbolism, and A Translation of Durandus; in 1847 he put forth his valuable work on Continental Ecclesiology; in 1848 he was joint editor with Dr. Mill of Frank’s Sermons, for the Anglo-Catholic Library, and with the Rev. J. Fuller-Russell of Hierurgia Anglicana. After the decease of his father-in-law (Dr. Mill), he edited Dr. Mill's Catechetical Lectures, 1856; a second edition of Dr. Mill's Christian Advocates Publications on the Mythical Interpretation of the Gospels, 1861; and of Dr. Mill's Sermons on our Lord's Temptation, 1873. He was also one of the editors of the Burntisland reprint of the Sarum Missal. One of his most valuable works is Instructions and Prayers for Candidates for Confirmation, of which the third edition was published in 1882. Mr. Webb was one of the original editors of the Hymnal Noted, and of the sub-Committee of the Ecclesiological Society, appointed to arrange the words and the music of that book; and was also the translator of some of the hymns. In conjunction with the Rev. Canon W. Cooke he was editor of the Hymnary, 1872, for which office his habitual reconstruction and composition of the words of the anthems used at St. Andrew's, Wells Street, as well as his connection with the Hymnal Noted, eminently qualified him. His original hymns contributed to the Hymnary, 1871 and 1872, were:-- 1. Assessor to thy King. St. Bartholomew. In the Hymnary, 1872. 2. Behold He comes, thy King most holy. Advent. Originally written to be sung in St. Andrew's Church, Wells Street, as an anthem to the music of Schumann's Advent-lied, and afterwards published in the Hymnary, 1872. 3. Praise God, the Holy Trinity. Hymn of Faith. Originally written for use in St. Andrew's, Wells Street, and subsequently in the Hymnary, 1872. 4. Praise the Rock of our salvation. Dedication of a Church. Published in the Hymnary, 1872. Mr. Webb's authorised text is in the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book, 1883. 5. Ye angel hosts above. Universal Praise to God. In the Hymnary, 1872. He died in London, Nov. 27, 1885. [Rev. William Cooke, M.A.] -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

F. Venua

1788 - 1872 Person Name: Frederick M. A. Venua, 1788- 1872 Composer of "PARK STREET" in Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America Frederic Marc Antoine Venua; English composer Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1908 Born to an Italian family in France, Venua attended the Paris Conservatory, and studied composition in London. He directed and composed for the ballet orchestra at the King’s Theater, and belonged the British Royal Society of Musicians. He retired to Exeter in 1858. © The Cyber Hymnal™ (http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/v/e/n/u/venua_fma.htm">Frederick Marc Antoine Venua)

Joseph Mainzer

1801 - 1851 Person Name: Dr. Joseph Mainzer (1801-1851) Composer of "MAINZER" in School and Parish Hymnal Abbe Joseph Mainzer, b. Trier, 1807; d. Mancehster, 1851 Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, ====================== Born: October 21, 1801, Trier, Germany. Died: November 10, 1851, Higher Broughton (near Manchester), England. Mainzer was educated at the Maîtrise of Trier Cathedral. Having studied engineering, he worked in mines at Saarbrücken, but was ordained in 1826 and after a few years became an abbé. He left Germany in 1833 for political reasons, settling in Brussels, then Paris, and Britain in 1839, living first in Edinburgh, then, after 1847, in Manchester. He published the Musical Times and Singing Circular. Novello took over the publication in 1844, renaming it the Musical Times. Sources: Pratt, p. 622 http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/a/i/mainzer_j.htm ===================== http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mainzer,_Joseph_(DNB00)

E. Power Biggs

1906 - 1977 Person Name: E. Power Biggs, 1906-1977 Composer of "DEO GRACIAS" in The Hymnal 1982 Edward George Power Biggs was born in England and came to the United States in 1930, during the Great Depression. He studied organ at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He had a Sunday morning radio program during the 1940's and 1950's that featured organ music of all periods. He performed around the world. He encouraged American composers to write new works for the organ and premiered many major works with American orchestras. He also encouraged churches and concert halls to acquire organs built by the best organ builders. Dianne Shapiro, from Pipedreams website (https://pipedreams.publicradio.org/articles/biographies/biggs/biggs_e-power.shtml) (Accessed 10/2/2022)