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Lowell Mason

1792 - 1872 Person Name: Dr. L. Mason Composer of "MERDIN" in The Little Seraph Dr. Lowell Mason (the degree was conferred by the University of New York) is justly called the father of American church music; and by his labors were founded the germinating principles of national musical intelligence and knowledge, which afforded a soil upon which all higher musical culture has been founded. To him we owe some of our best ideas in religious church music, elementary musical education, music in the schools, the popularization of classical chorus singing, and the art of teaching music upon the Inductive or Pestalozzian plan. More than that, we owe him no small share of the respect which the profession of music enjoys at the present time as contrasted with the contempt in which it was held a century or more ago. In fact, the entire art of music, as now understood and practiced in America, has derived advantage from the work of this great man. Lowell Mason was born in Medfield, Mass., January 8, 1792. From childhood he had manifested an intense love for music, and had devoted all his spare time and effort to improving himself according to such opportunities as were available to him. At the age of twenty he found himself filling a clerkship in a banking house in Savannah, Ga. Here he lost no opportunity of gratifying his passion for musical advancement, and was fortunate to meet for the first time a thoroughly qualified instructor, in the person of F. L. Abel. Applying his spare hours assiduously to the cultivation of the pursuit to which his passion inclined him, he soon acquired a proficiency that enabled him to enter the field of original composition, and his first work of this kind was embodied in the compilation of a collection of church music, which contained many of his own compositions. The manuscript was offered unavailingly to publishers in Philadelphia and in Boston. Fortunately for our musical advancement it finally secured the attention of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, and by its committee was submitted to Dr. G. K. Jackson, the severest critic in Boston. Dr. Jackson approved most heartily of the work, and added a few of his own compositions to it. Thus enlarged, it was finally published in 1822 as The Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music. Mason's name was omitted from the publication at his own request, which he thus explains, "I was then a bank officer in Savannah, and did not wish to be known as a musical man, as I had not the least thought of ever making music a profession." President Winchester, of the Handel and Haydn Society, sold the copyright for the young man. Mr. Mason went back to Savannah with probably $500 in his pocket as the preliminary result of his Boston visit. The book soon sprang into universal popularity, being at once adopted by the singing schools of New England, and through this means entering into the church choirs, to whom it opened up a higher field of harmonic beauty. Its career of success ran through some seventeen editions. On realizing this success, Mason determined to accept an invitation to come to Boston and enter upon a musical career. This was in 1826. He was made an honorary member of the Handel and Haydn Society, but declined to accept this, and entered the ranks as an active member. He had been invited to come to Boston by President Winchester and other musical friends and was guaranteed an income of $2,000 a year. He was also appointed, by the influence of these friends, director of music at the Hanover, Green, and Park Street churches, to alternate six months with each congregation. Finally he made a permanent arrangement with the Bowdoin Street Church, and gave up the guarantee, but again friendly influence stepped in and procured for him the position of teller at the American Bank. In 1827 Lowell Mason became president and conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. It was the beginning of a career that was to win for him as has been already stated the title of "The Father of American Church Music." Although this may seem rather a bold claim it is not too much under the circumstances. Mr. Mason might have been in the average ranks of musicianship had he lived in Europe; in America he was well in advance of his surroundings. It was not too high praise (in spite of Mason's very simple style) when Dr. Jackson wrote of his song collection: "It is much the best book I have seen published in this country, and I do not hesitate to give it my most decided approbation," or that the great contrapuntist, Hauptmann, should say the harmonies of the tunes were dignified and churchlike and that the counterpoint was good, plain, singable and melodious. Charles C. Perkins gives a few of the reasons why Lowell Mason was the very man to lead American music as it then existed. He says, "First and foremost, he was not so very much superior to the members as to be unreasonably impatient at their shortcomings. Second, he was a born teacher, who, by hard work, had fitted himself to give instruction in singing. Third, he was one of themselves, a plain, self-made man, who could understand them and be understood of them." The personality of Dr. Mason was of great use to the art and appreciation of music in this country. He was of strong mind, dignified manners, sensitive, yet sweet and engaging. Prof. Horace Mann, one of the great educators of that day, said he would walk fifty miles to see and hear Mr. Mason teach if he could not otherwise have that advantage. Dr. Mason visited a number of the music schools in Europe, studied their methods, and incorporated the best things in his own work. He founded the Boston Academy of Music. The aim of this institution was to reach the masses and introduce music into the public schools. Dr. Mason resided in Boston from 1826 to 1851, when he removed to New York. Not only Boston benefited directly by this enthusiastic teacher's instruction, but he was constantly traveling to other societies in distant cities and helping their work. He had a notable class at North Reading, Mass., and he went in his later years as far as Rochester, where he trained a chorus of five hundred voices, many of them teachers, and some of them coming long distances to study under him. Before 1810 he had developed his idea of "Teachers' Conventions," and, as in these he had representatives from different states, he made musical missionaries for almost the entire country. He left behind him no less than fifty volumes of musical collections, instruction books, and manuals. As a composer of solid, enduring church music. Dr. Mason was one of the most successful this country has introduced. He was a deeply pious man, and was a communicant of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Mason in 1817 married Miss Abigail Gregory, of Leesborough, Mass. The family consisted of four sons, Daniel Gregory, Lowell, William and Henry. The two former founded the publishing house of Mason Bros., dissolved by the death of the former in 19G9. Lowell and Henry were the founders of the great organ manufacturer of Mason & Hamlin. Dr. William Mason was one of the most eminent musicians that America has yet produced. Dr. Lowell Mason died at "Silverspring," a beautiful residence on the side of Orange Mountain, New Jersey, August 11, 1872, bequeathing his great musical library, much of which had been collected abroad, to Yale College. --Hall, J. H. (c1914). Biographies of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

Anonymous

Person Name: Anon. Author of "O, how good it is to be blessed" in The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries.

Joseph Funk

1778 - 1862 Composer (attributed to) of "TRANSPORTING VISION" in The Cyber Hymnal Joseph Funk USA 1778-1862. Born at Berks County, PA, grandson of the first Mennonite bishop in America. He lived most of his life in Rockingham County, VA. He was a farmer, a composer, publisher, and traveling singing teacher, covering hundreds of miles on horseback to teaching appointments. He married Elizabeth Rhodes, and they had five children: Jonathan, Henry, Elizabeth, Susan, and Barbara.. After her death, he married Rachel Britton in 1814, and they raised nine children: Mary, Joseph, David, Samuel. Hannah, John, Timothy, Solomon, and Benjamin. His advocacy for the use of musical instruments in church worship was in contention with the Mennonite position that musical instruments were not fit for the church. His sons also taught music and sang with instruments, a very progressive posture at the time. He collected songbooks and revised and updated hymn tunes. He invented a 4-shape-note music system in 1851 for the “Harmonia Sacra”, and later a 7-shape notation tunebook. At age 70 he established the first Mennonite printing business in America. His published works include: “A compilation of genuine church music” (1832) – later changed to “Harmonia Sacra”, “The confession of faith” (1837), “A collection of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (1847), “The reviewer reviewed” (1857), “The southern musical advocate & singer's friend” (a monthly periodical 1859-61). He died at Singers Glen, VA. John Perry

Richard Kempenfelt

1718 - 1782 Person Name: Richard Kempenfelt, 1718-1782 Author of "Burst, Ye Emerald Gates" in The Cyber Hymnal Kempenfelt, Richard, of Swedish descent, was born Oct., 1718. In Jan., 1741, he obtained a lieutenant's commission in the British Navy. He became captain in 1757, and admiral in 1780. He was drowned in the "Royal George," which sank in harbour at Portsmouth on Aug. 29, 1782. Admiral Kempenfelt was an admirer of Whitefield and the Wesleys, and interested himself much in evangelistic work. His hymns were published as Original Hymns and Poems. By Philotheorus. Exeter, printed by B. Thorn, 1777, and were dedicated "To the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, Vicar of Madeley, in Shropshire." They were reprinted, with a Preface, by D. Sedgwick, in 1861. Although most of these hymns are given in the older collections, only a few re¬main in modern hymn-books, and, including centos, are:— 1. Bear me on Thy rapid wing. Praise to Jesus in Heaven. 2. Burst, ye emerald gates, and bring. Praise to Jesus in Heaven. 3. Gentle Spirit, waft me over. Heaven desired. 4. Hail, Thou eternal Logos, hail. Adoration of Jesus. 5. Hark, 'tis the trump of God. The Last Day. 6. O my Redeemer, come. The Last Day. Of these Nos. 1 and 2 are from the same hymn; and Nos. 5 and 6 also from another. The original texts of Nos. 3, 5, and 6 are in Lyra Britannica 1867, pp. 349-52. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Mark H. Forscutt

1834 - 1903 Person Name: M. H. Forscutt, 1834-1903 Composer of "EMERALD" in The Hymnal Mark Hill Forscutt (19 June 1834 – 18 October 1903) was an English hymn writer and a leader in several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Forscutt broke with that denomination for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the practice of plural marriage. Forscutt went on to serve in leadership positions in the Morrisite sect and later in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church). Forscutt was born in Godmanchester, England. When Forscutt joined the LDS Church as a 19-year-old in 1853, his father disowned him and insisted that he move out of his childhood home. From 1855 to 1860, Forscutt was a missionary for the LDS Church in England. Forscutt was married in March 1860 to fellow Latter-day Saint Elizabeth Unsworth. On their marriage day, Forscutt and his wife began their emigration to Utah Territory with the intention of joining the gathering of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. Upon arriving in Utah, he became a secretary to Brigham Young, the president of the LDS Church. Shortly after his arrival, Forscutt began to learn about the LDS practice of plural marriage, which he had not been aware of previously. This discovery, combined with other disagreements with Brigham Young, led Forscutt to disassociate himself from the LDS Church. Forscutt became affiliated with a group led by Joseph Morris; he was an apostle in the Morrisite organization and was involved in the 1861 Morrisite War. After these incidents, Forscutt joined the United States Army unit at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City and was stationed in Ruby Valley (now Nevada) before returning to Salt Lake City. In 1865, Forscutt joined the RLDS Church in Salt Lake City. He soon left the territory fearing for his life as an apostate from the LDS Church. Forscutt became a close personal friend of Joseph Smith III. Forscutt later served as a full-time missionary for the RLDS Church in England and the Society Islands. He was a copyist in the process that led to the 1866 publication of the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible in 1866. Forscutt composed a number of hymns and was the editor of Saints' Harmony, an RLDS Church hymnal published in 1889. Forscutt was a preacher in the RLDS Church until his death. On 2 May 1879, Forscutt preached the sermon at the funeral of Emma Smith Bidamon, the widow of Joseph Smith, Jr. and mother of Joseph Smith III. Mark and Elizabeth Forscutt were the parents of three children Amy Forscutt Parr, Ruby Forscutt Faunce, and Mark Zenas Forscutt. They divorced in 1867. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hill_Forscutt