Edward Burns is known for two hymns, both published in Hymns for Today’s Church (1982, 1987) by the Jubliate Group, a group of evangelically-minded Anglican clergy who sparked a movement to provide new psalms and hymns in more contemporary language and music that would connect with young people.

Emily Brink

 

William Gardiner first published GERMANY as a setting for the text "As a Shepherd Gently Leads Us" in his Sacred Melodies (vol. 2, 1815), in which he attributed it to Ludwig van Beethoven. The last phrase of this tune resembles a part of the first theme of the Allegretto movement of Beethoven's Piano Trio, Op. 7, No.2. The first phrase is from the opening of the aria “Possenti Numi” in Mozart's The Magic Flute. The tune is also known by the names BEETHOVEN, FULDA, WALTON, or GARDINER. Sing GERMANY briskly to get the sense of two long lines rather than four shorter, choppy ones. Antiphony is helpful for singing the entire psalm.

Edward Joseph Burns (b. 1938) lived all his life in Lancashire, except for attending Liverpool University and Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. He was ordained in the Church of England and became vicar of Christ Church, Fulwood beginning in 1975. He is known especially for two hymns, “We Have a Gospel to Proclaim” and “O God, Who Gives to Humankind.” The first was written in response to the Blackburn Diocean “Call to Mission” in 1968 and is one of the most popular hymns to come from the evangelical movement of that time; it was the first hymn in 100 Hymns for Today (1969). 

The son of an English hosiery manufacturer, William Gardiner (b. Leicester, England, 1770; d. Leicester, 1853) took up his father's trade in addition to writing about music, composing, and editing. Having met Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven on his business travels, Gardiner then proceeded to help popularize their compositions, especially Beethoven's, in England. He recorded his memories of various musicians in Music and Friends (3 volumes, 1838-1853). In the first two volumes of Sacred Melodies (1812, 1815), Gardiner turned melodies from composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven into hymn tunes in an attempt to rejuvenate the singing of psalms. His work became an important model for American editors like Lowell Mason (see Mason's Boston Handel and Haydn Collection, 1822), and later hymnbook editors often turned to Gardiner as a source of tunes derived from classical music.

Paul Detterman is currently the Executive Director of Presbyterians for Renewal and the Fellowship of Presbyterians. He has his bachelor’s degree in Sacred Music from Illinois Wesleyan University, a Master of Church Music from Concordia University and a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Boston University School of Theology. Detterman is a composer of choral, solo, handbells, and organ music. He has served the Church as a Director of Music and a Pastor, and is a frequent preacher, worship leader, and conference/retreat speaker. He has published numerous works on worship, and was a contributing consultant for Lift Up Your Hearts.