THE PENITENT

Composer: Chester G. Allen

Chester Gilbert Allen (Feb. 15, 1838 – Oct. 18, 1878) was an American music educator, compiler, and hymn composer. He taught music in the Cleveland, Ohio, public schools and edited or co-edited Sunday-school songbooks that shaped the gospel repertoire of his day. Allen is best remembered for the tune Joyful Song, written for Fanny J. Crosby’s hymn Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer and first published in Bright Jewels (1869). His lively, march-like melodies typify mid-nineteenth-century American gospel hymnody and remain in use today. J. S. McDuff (from nineteenth-century American hymn collections and public-domain historical notices, retrieved 9/15/2025) Go to person page >