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Joseph Medlicott Scriven

1819 - 1886 Topics: Advent 3 Year C Author of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in Voices United Joseph M. Scriven (b. Seapatrick, County Down, Ireland, 1819; d. Bewdley, Rice Lake, ON, Canada, 1886), an Irish immigrant to Canada, wrote this text near Port Hope, Ontario, in 1855. Because his life was filled with grief and trials, Scriven often needed the solace of the Lord as described in his famous hymn. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, he enrolled in a military college to prepare for an army career. However, poor health forced him to give up that ambition. Soon after came a second blow—his fiancée died in a drowning accident on the eve of their wedding in 1844. Later that year he moved to Ontario, where he taught school in Woodstock and Brantford. His plans for marriage were dashed again when his new bride-to-be died after a short illness in 1855. Following this calamity Scriven seldom had a regular income, and he was forced to live in the homes of others. He also experienced mistrust from neighbors who did not appreciate his eccentricities or his work with the underprivileged. A member of the Plymouth Brethren, he tried to live according to the Sermon on the Mount as literally as possible, giving and sharing all he had and often doing menial tasks for the poor and physically disabled. Because Scriven suffered from depression, no one knew if his death by drowning in Rice Lake was suicide or an accident. Bert Polman ================ Scriven, Joseph. Mr. Sankey, in his My Life and Sacred Songs, 1906, p. 279, says that Scriven was b. in Dublin in 1820, was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin, and went to Canada when he was 25, and died there at Port Hope, on Lake Ontario, in 1886. His hymn:— What a Friend we have in Jesus. [Jesus our Friend] was, according to Mr. Sankey, discovered to be his in the following manner: "A neighbour, sitting up with him in his illness, happened upon a manuscript of 'What a Friend we have in Jesus.' Reading it with great delight, and questioning Mr. Scriven about it, he said he had composed it for his mother, to comfort her in a time of special sorrow, not intending any one else should see it." We find the hymn in H. 1... Hastings's Social Hymns, Original and Selected, 1865, No. 242; and his Song of Pilgrimage, 1886, No. 1291, where it is attributed to "Joseph Scriven, cir. 1855." It is found in many modern collections. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)

Arthur Sullivan

1842 - 1900 Person Name: A. S. Sullivan Topics: Advent of Christ At Birth; Christ Advent at Birth; Advent of Christ At Birth; Christ Advent at Birth Arranger of "NOEL" in Laudes Domini Arthur Seymour Sullivan (b Lambeth, London. England. 1842; d. Westminster, London, 1900) was born of an Italian mother and an Irish father who was an army bandmaster and a professor of music. Sullivan entered the Chapel Royal as a chorister in 1854. He was elected as the first Mendelssohn scholar in 1856, when he began his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-1861) and in 1866 was appointed professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Early in his career Sullivan composed oratorios and music for some Shakespeare plays. However, he is best known for writing the music for lyrics by William S. Gilbert, which produced popular operettas such as H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1884), and Yeomen of the Guard (1888). These operettas satirized the court and everyday life in Victorian times. Although he composed some anthems, in the area of church music Sullivan is best remembered for his hymn tunes, written between 1867 and 1874 and published in The Hymnary (1872) and Church Hymns (1874), both of which he edited. He contributed hymns to A Hymnal Chiefly from The Book of Praise (1867) and to the Presbyterian collection Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867). A complete collection of his hymns and arrangements was published posthumously as Hymn Tunes by Arthur Sullivan (1902). Sullivan steadfastly refused to grant permission to those who wished to make hymn tunes from the popular melodies in his operettas. Bert Polman

Frances Elizabeth Cox

1812 - 1897 Person Name: Frances Elizabeth Cox, 1812-1897 Topics: Second Sunday Before Advent Year A Translator of "Jesus lives! thy terrors now" in Common Praise Cox, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. George V. Cox, born at Oxford, is well known as a successful translator of hymns from the German. Her translations were published as Sacred Hymns from the German, London, Pickering. The 1st edition, pub. 1841, contained 49 translations printed with the original text, together with biographical notes on the German authors. In the 2nd edition, 1864, Hymns from the German, London, Rivingtons, the translations were increased to 56, those of 1841 being revised, and with additional notes. The 56 translations were composed of 27 from the 1st ed. (22 being omitted) and 29 which were new. The best known of her translations are "Jesus lives! no longer [thy terrors] now" ; and ”Who are these like stars appearing ?" A few other translations and original hymns have been contributed by Miss Cox to the magazines; but they have not been gathered together into a volume. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Edmund H. Sears

1810 - 1876 Topics: Advent of Christ At Birth; Christ Advent at Birth; Advent of Christ At Birth; Christ Advent at Birth Author of "The Angels' Song" in Laudes Domini Edmund Hamilton Sears was born in Berkshire [County], Massachusetts, in 1810; graduated at Union College, Schenectady, in 1834, and at the Theological School of Harvard University, in 1837. He became pastor of the Unitarian Society in Wayland, Mass., in 1838; removed to Lancaster in 1840; but on account of ill health was obliged to retire from the active duties of the ministry in 1847; since then, residing in Wayland, he devoted himself to literature. He has published several works. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 ======================= Sears, Edmund Hamilton, D.D., son of Joseph Sears, was born at Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, April 6, 1810, and educated at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., where he graduated in 1834; and at the Theological School at Cambridge. In 1838 he became pastor of the First Church (Unitarian) at Wayland, Massachusetts; then at Lancaster in the same State, in 1840; again at Wayland, in 1847; and finally at Weston, Massachusetts, in 1865. He died at Weston, Jan. 14, 1876. He published:— (1) Regeneration, 1854; (2) Pictures of the Olden Time, 1857; (3) Athanasia, or Foregleams of Immortality, 1858, enlarged ed., 1872; (4) The Fourth Gospel the Heart of Christ; (5) Sermons and Songs of the Christian Life, 1875, in which his hymns are collected. Also co-editor of the Monthly Religious Magazine. Of his hymns the following are in common use:— 1. Calm on the listening ear of night. Christmas. This hymn was first published in its original form, in the Boston Observer, 1834; afterwards, in the Christian Register, in 1835; subsequently it was emended by the author, and, as thus emended, was reprinted entire in the Monthly Magazine, vol. xxxv. Its use is extensive. 2. It came upon the midnight clear. Christmas. "Rev. Dr. Morison writes to us, Sears's second Christmas hymn was sent to me as editor of the Christian Register, I think, in December, 1849. I was very much delighted with it, and before it came out in the Register, read it at a Christmas celebration of Dr. Lunt's Sunday School in Quincy. I always feel that, however poor my Christmas sermon may be, the reading and singing of this hymn are enough to make up for all deficiences.'" 3. Ho, ye that rest beneath the rock. Charitable Meetings on behalf of Children. Appeared in Longfellow and Johnson's Hymns of the Spirit, Boston, 1864, in 2 stanzas of 8 lines. Dr. Sears's two Christmas hymns rank with the best on that holy season in the English language. Although a member of the Unitarian body, his views were rather Swedenborgian than Unitarian. He held always to the absolute Divinity of Christ. [Rev. F. M. Bird, M.A.] --Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Jakob Hintze

1622 - 1702 Topics: Advent 2 Year B; Advent 3 Year B Composer of "SALZBURG (HINTZE)" in Voices United Partly as a result of the Thirty Years' War and partly to further his musical education, Jakob Hintze (b. Bernau, Germany, 1622; d. Berlin, Germany, 1702) traveled widely as a youth, including trips to Sweden and Lithuania. In 1659 he settled in Berlin, where he served as court musician to the Elector of Brandenburg from 1666 to 1695. Hintze is known mainly for his editing of the later editions of Johann Crüger's Praxis Pietatis Melica, to which he contributed some sixty-five of his original tunes. Bert Polman

Cyril Taylor

1907 - 1991 Person Name: Cyril Taylor, 1907-1991 Topics: Second Sunday Before Advent Year B Composer of "ABBOT'S LEIGH" in Common Praise 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

Robert Lowry

1826 - 1899 Person Name: Robert Lowry, 1825-1899 Topics: Advent Author (refrain) of "Come, We That love the Lord (We're Marching to Zion)" in Evangelical Lutheran Worship Robert Lowry was born in Philadelphia, March 12, 1826. His fondness for music was exhibited in his earliest years. As a child he amused himself with the various musical instruments that came into his hands. At the age of seventeen he joined the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, and soon became an active worker in the Sunday-school as teacher and chorister. At the age of twenty-two he gave himself to the work of the ministry, and entered upon a course of study at the University of Lewisburg, Pa. At the age of twenty-eight he was graduated with the highest honors of his class. In the same year of his graduation, he entered upon the work of the ministry. He served as pastor at West Chester, Pa., 1851-1858; in New York City, 1859-1861; in Brooklyn, 1861-1869; in Lewisburg, Pa., 1869-1875. While pastor at Lewisburg, he was also professor of belles lettres in the University, and received the honorary degree of D. D. in 1875. He then went to Plainfield, N. J., where he became pastor of Park Avenue Church. In each of these fields his work was crowned with marked success. Dr. Lowry was a man of rare administrative ability, a most excellent preacher, a thorough Bible student, and whether in the pulpit or upon the platform, always a brilliant and interesting speaker. He was of a genial and pleasing disposition, and a high sense of humor was one of his most striking characteristics. Very few men had greater ability in painting pictures from the imagination. He could thrill an audience with his vivid descriptions, inspiring others with the same thoughts that inspired him. His melodies are sung in every civilized land, and many of his hymns have been translated into foreign tongues. While preaching the Gospel, in which he found great joy, was his life-work, music and hymnology were favorite studies, but were always a side issue, a recreation. In the year 1880, he took a rest of four years, visiting Europe. In 1885 he felt that he needed more rest, and resigned his pastorate at Plainfield, and visited in the South and West, also spending some time in Mexico. He returned, much improved in health, and again took up his work in Plainfield. On the death of Wm. B. Bradbury, Messrs. Biglow & Main, successors to Mr. Bradbury in the publishing business, selected Dr. Lowry for editor of their Sunday-school book, Bright Jewels, which was a great success. Subsequently Dr. W. Doane was associated with him in the issue of the Sunday-school song book, Pure Gold, the sales of which exceeded a million copies. Then came Royal Diadem, Welcome Tidings, Brightest and Best, Glad Refrain, Good as Gold, Joyful Lays, Fountain of Song, Bright Array, Temple Anthems, and numerous other volumes. The good quality of their books did much to stimulate the cause of sacred song in this country. When he saw that the obligations of musical editorship were laid upon him, he began the study of music in earnest, and sought the best musical text-books and works on the highest forms of musical composition. He possessed one of the finest musical libraries in the country. It abounded in works on the philosophy and science of musical sounds. He also had some musical works in his possession that were over one hundred and fifty years old. One of his labors of love some years ago was an attempt to reduce music to a mathematical basis. On the established fact that Middle C has two hundred and fifty-six vibrations per second, he prepared a scale and went to work on the rule of three. After infinite calculation and repeated experiments, he carried it far enough to discover that it would not work. A reporter once asked him what was his method of composition — "Do you write the words to fit the music, or the music to fit the words?" His reply was, "I have no method. Sometimes the music comes and the words follow, fitted insensibly to the melody. I watch my moods, and when anything good strikes me, whether words or music, and no matter where I am, at home or on the street, I jot it down. Often the margin of a newspaper or the back of an envelope serves as a notebook. My brain is a sort of spinning machine, I think, for there is music running through it all the time. I do not pick out my music on the keys of an instrument. The tunes of nearly all the hymns I have written have been completed on paper before I tried them on the organ. Frequently the words of the hymn and the music have been written at the same time." The Doctor frequently said that he regarded "Weeping Will Not Save Me" as the best and most evangelistic hymn he ever wrote. The following are some of his most popular and sweetest gospel melodies: "Shall We Gather at the River?," "One More Day's Work for Jesus," "Where is My Wandering Boy To-night?," "I Need Thee Every Hour," "The Mistakes of My Life," "How Can I Keep from Singing?," "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me," "Saviour, Thy Dying Love," "We're Marching to Zion," etc. "Shall We Gather at the River?" is perhaps, without question, the most widely popular of all his songs. Of this Mr. Lowry said: "It is brass band music, has a march movement, and for that reason has become popular, though for myself I do not think much of it." Yet he tells us how, on several occasions, he had been deeply moved by the singing of that hymn, "Going from Harrisburg to Lewisburg once I got into a car filled with half-drunken lumbermen. Suddenly one of them struck up, "Shall We Gather at the River?" and they sang it over and over again, repeating the chorus in a wild, boisterous way. I did not think so much of the music then as I listened to those singers, but I did think that perhaps the spirit of the hymn, the words so flippantly uttered, might somehow survive and be carried forward into the lives of those careless men, and ultimately lift them upward to the realization of the hope expressed in my hymn." "A different appreciation of it was evinced during the Robert Raikes' Centennial. I was in London, and had gone to meeting in the Old Bailey to see some of the most famous Sunday-school workers in the world. They were present from Europe, Asia, and America. I sat in a rear seat alone. After there had been a number of addresses delivered in various languages, I was preparing to leave, when the chairman of the meeting announced that the author of "Shall We Gather at the River?" was present, and I was requested by name to come forward. Men applauded and women waved their handkerchiefs as I went to the platform. It was a tribute to the hymn; but I felt, when it was over, that, after all, I had perhaps done some little good in the world, and I felt more than ever content to die when God called." On Children's Day in Brooklyn, in 1865, this song was sung by over forty thousand voices. While Dr. Lowry said, "I would rather preach a gospel sermon to an appreciative, receptive congregation than write a hymn," yet in spite of his preferences, his hymns have gone on and on, translated into many languages, preaching and comforting thousands upon thousands of souls, furnishing them expression for their deepest feelings of praise and gratitude to God for His goodness to the children of men. What he had thought in his inmost soul has become a part of the emotions of the whole Christian world. We are all his debtors. Rev. Robert Lowry, D. D., died at his residence in Plainfield, K J., November 25, 1899. Dead, yet he lives and his sermons in gospel song are still heard and are doing good. Dr. Lowry was a great and good man, and his life, well spent, is highly worthy of a place among the world's greatest gospel song and hymn writers. -- Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers ------- Lowry, Robert, D.D., son of Crozier Lowry, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1826, and educated at Lewisburg University. Having received ordination as a Baptist Minister, his first charge was at West Chester, Pennsylvania. From thence he passed to New York City, and then to Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1876 he was appointed Professor of Rhetoric in his University. On resigning his Professorship he undertook the charge of the 2nd Baptist Church, New Jersey. Dr. Lowry has been associated with some of the most popular Sunday School hymn-books published in the States, including Happy Voices, 1865; Chapel Melodies, 1868; Bright Jewels, 1869; Pure Gold, 1871; Royal Diadem, 1873; Tidal Wave, 1874; Fountain of Song1877; Welcome Tidings, 1877, &c. Of Dr. Lowry's hymns those which have attained the widest circulation are:— 1. Jerusalem, for ever bright. Heaven. Appeared in the American Tract Society's Happy Voices, 1865, with music by the author. 2. Low in the grave He lay. Resurrection of Christ. Written in 1874 and published in Brightest and Best, 1875. 3. Marching on, marching on. Sunday School Battle Song. Appeared, with music by the author, in Happy Voices, 1865. 4. My home is in heaven, my rest is not here. In Happy Voices, 1865, with music by the author. 5. My life flows on in endless song. Joy in God. In Bright Jewels, 1869; the Royal Diadem, 1873, and others in America and Great Britain, with music by the author. 6. One more day's work for Jesus. Work for Christ. Published, with music by the author, in Bright Jewels, 1869. 7. Shall we gather at the river? Mutual recognition in the Hereafter. The origin of this hymn is thus set forth in E. W. Long's Illustrated History of Hymns and their Authors, Philadelphia, 1876, p. 64:— ”On a very hot summer day, in 1864, a pastor was seated in his parlour in Brooklyn, N. Y. It was a time when an epidemic was sweeping through the city, and draping many persons and dwellings in mourning. All around friends and acquaintances were passing away to the spirit land in large numbers. The question began to arise in the heart, with unusual emphasis, ‘Shall we meet again? We are parting at the river of death, shall we meet at the river of life?' ‘Seating myself at the organ,’ says he, ‘simply to give vent to the pent up emotions of the heart, the words and music of the hymn began to flow out, as if by inspiration:— ‘Shall we gather at the river, Where bright angel feet have trod?’" In 1865 the hymn and music were given in Happy Voices, No. 220, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines and a chorus. The hymn has since passed into a great number of hymnals in Great Britain and America. 8. Take the wings of the morning; speed quickly thy flight. Exhortation to Repentance. Written for, and published with music by the author in, the Royal Diadem, 1873. 9. Weeping will not save me. Salvation through Faith. Published in the Chapel Melodies, 1868. 10. What can wash away my stain? Precious Blood of Jesus. Given in the Welcome Tidings, 1877, with music by the author. 11. Where is my wandering boy tonight! The absent Child. In the Fountain of Song, 1877, together with music by the author. Most of these hymns are given in Mr. I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs & Solos, Pts. i., ii. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

John Ernest Bode

1816 - 1874 Person Name: J. E. Bode, 1816-1874 Topics: Third Sunday Before Advent Year B Author of "O Jesus, I have promised" in Common Praise John E. Bode (b. St. Pancras, England, 1816; d. Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, England, 1874) A fine student at Christ Church, Oxford, England, and a prominent scholar who gave the famous Bampton Lectures ("for the exposition and defense of the Christian faith") at Oxford in 1855, was a rector in Westwell, Oxfordshire, and in Castle Camps. This gifted poet and hymn writer published Hymns for the Gospel of the Day, for Each Sunday and Festivals of Our Lord in 1860. Bert Polman ============== Bode, John Ernest, M.A., son of Mr. William Bode, late of the General Post Office, b. 1816, and educated at Eton, the Charter House, and at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating B.A. 1837, and M.A. in due course. Taking Holy Orders in 1841, he became Rector of Westwell, Oxfordshire, 1847; and then of Castle Camps, Cambridgeshire, 1860. He was also for a time Tutor of his College, and Classical Examiner. His Bampton Lectures were delivered in 1855. He d. at Castle Camps, Oct. 6, 1874. In addition to his Bampton Lectures, and Ballads from Herodotus, he published Hymns from the Gospel of the Day for each Sunday and Festivals of our Lord, 1860; and Short Occasional Poems, Lond., Longmans, 1858. In addition to his well-known hymn, “O Jesu, I have promised " (q. v.), the following from his Hys. from the Gospel are also in common use:— 1. God of heaven, enthroned in might. H. Trinity. 2. Spirit of Truth, indwelling Light. Whitsuntide. -John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ================= Bode, John E. , p. 151, ii. Additional pieces from his Hys.from the Gospel of the Day, &c, 1800, are in common use :— (1) "Sweetly the Sabbath bell" (Sunday); (2) "Thou Who hast called us by Thy word" (20th S. after Trinity). --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

William Owen

1813 - 1893 Person Name: William Owen, 1814-1893 Topics: Jesus Christ Advent and Nativity; Jesus Advent and Nativity Composer of "BRYN CALFARIA" in African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal Owen, William (‘William Owen of Prysgol,’ 1813-1893), musician; b. 12? Dec. 1813 [in Lônpopty], Bangor, the son of William and Ellen Owen. The father was a quarryman at Cae Braich-y-cafn quarry, Bethesda, and the son began to work in the same quarry when he was ten years old. He learnt music at classes held by Robert Williams (Cae Aseth), at Carneddi, and from William Roberts, Tyn-y-maes, the composer of the hymn-tune ‘Andalusia.’ He wrote his first hymn-tune when he was 18 — it was published in Y Drysorfa for June 1841. After the family had [removed] to [Caesguborwen], Bangor, [sometimes called Cilmelyn] — they had spent some years [at Tŷhen] near the quarry — William Owen formed a temperance choir which sang ‘Cwymp Babilon,’ the work of the conductor, at the Caernarvon temperance festival, 1849. In 1852, with the help of some friends at Bethesda, he published Y Perl Cerddorol yn cynnwys tonau ac anthemau, cysegredig a moesol; of this 3,000 copies were sold, A solfa edition appeared in 1886 of which 4,000 copies were sold. He composed several temperance pieces, some of which were sung in the Eryri temperance festivals held at Caernarvon castle. His anthem, ‘Ffynnon Ddisglair,’ and the hymn-tunes ALMA and DEEMSTER became popular, but it was the hymn-tune called BRYN CALFARIA which made the composer famous; this continues to have a considerable vogue in Wales and in England. He married the daughter of the house called Prysgol and went there to live; he also became precentor at Caeathro C.M. chapel. He died 20 July 1893, and was buried in Caeathro chapel burial ground. --wbo.llgc.org.uk/en/

William W. Walford

1772 - 1850 Person Name: W. W. Walford Topics: Intercession; Prayer Hymns about; liturgical Prayer Songs Author of "Sweet Hour of Prayer" William W. Walford, a blind preacher of England, is the author of the hymn beginning "Sweet hour of prayer." This hymn first appeared in print in the New York Observer September 13, 1845. The contributor who furnished the hymn says: "During my residence at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, I became acquainted with W. W. Walford, the blind preacher, a man of obscure birth and connections and no education, but of strong mind and most retentive memory. In the pulpit he never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision, and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, so as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart." Rev. Thomas Salmon, who was settled as the pastor of the Congregational Church at Coleshill in 1838, remained until 1842, and then removed to the United States, is believed to have been the contributor who says of the hymn: "I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil as he uttered them, and send them for insertion in the Observer if you think them worthy of preservation." From: Nutter, C. S., & Tillett, W. F. (1911). The hymns and hymn writers of the church, an annotated edition of The Methodist hymnal. New York: Methodist Book Concern.