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Louis Bourgeois
1510 - 1561 Composer of "KEEPER" in Psalter Hymnal (Blue) Louis Bourgeois (b. Paris, France, c. 1510; d. Paris, 1561). In both his early and later years Bourgeois wrote French songs to entertain the rich, but in the history of church music he is known especially for his contribution to the Genevan Psalter. Apparently moving to Geneva in 1541, the same year John Calvin returned to Geneva from Strasbourg, Bourgeois served as cantor and master of the choristers at both St. Pierre and St. Gervais, which is to say he was music director there under the pastoral leadership of Calvin. Bourgeois used the choristers to teach the new psalm tunes to the congregation.
The extent of Bourgeois's involvement in the Genevan Psalter is a matter of scholarly debate. Calvin had published several partial psalters, including one in Strasbourg in 1539 and another in Geneva in 1542, with melodies by unknown composers. In 1551 another French psalter appeared in Geneva, Eighty-three Psalms of David, with texts by Marot and de Beze, and with most of the melodies by Bourgeois, who supplied thirty four original tunes and thirty-six revisions of older tunes. This edition was republished repeatedly, and later Bourgeois's tunes were incorporated into the complete Genevan Psalter (1562). However, his revision of some older tunes was not uniformly appreciated by those who were familiar with the original versions; he was actually imprisoned overnight for some of his musical arrangements but freed after Calvin's intervention. In addition to his contribution to the 1551 Psalter, Bourgeois produced a four-part harmonization of fifty psalms, published in Lyons (1547, enlarged 1554), and wrote a textbook on singing and sight-reading, La Droit Chemin de Musique (1550). He left Geneva in 1552 and lived in Lyons and Paris for the remainder of his life.
Bert Polman
Louis Bourgeois
Dewey Westra
1899 - 1979 Author of "Unto the Hills I lift Mine Eyes" in Psalter Hymnal (Blue) Dewey D. Westra (b. Holland, MI, 1899; d. Wyoming, MI, 1979) was a dedicated educator, writer, and musician who faithfully served the Christian Reformed Church. He attended Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Wayne State University in Detroit. In the 1920s and 30s he was a Christian school Principal in Byron Center and Detroit, Michigan. During the 1940s he was involved in various ventures, including becoming a diesel instructor for the Ford Motor Company. After 1947 he became a principal again, serving at Christian schools in Sioux Center, Iowa; Randolph, Wisconsin; and Walker, Michigan. Westra wrote poetry in English, Dutch, and Frisian, and translated poetry into English from Dutch and Frisian. He arranged many songs and composed songs for children's choirs. He also versified all one hundred and fifty psalms and the Lord's Prayer, as well as the songs of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon, in meters that fit the corresponding Genevan psalm tunes. His manuscripts are housed in the library of Calvin College. Seventeen of his psalm versifications and his paraphrases of the Lucan canticles were included in the 1934 and in the 1959 editions of the Psalter Hymnal. Much of the credit for keeping the Genevan psalms alive in the Christian Reformed Church goes to Westra.
Bert Polman
Dewey Westra
Henry A. Bruinsma
1916 - 1991 Adapter of "KEEPER" in Psalter Hymnal (Blue) It was in Bruinsma's musical compositions that his brilliance was most displayed. “Henry’s personality was … embodied in his music: colorful, radiating charisma, magnetic in a nonverbal way,” niece Jane DeGroot said.
Bruinsma displayed musical potential even before he was considered old enough to take music lessons, said his wife, Grace Hekman Bruinsma. The preschooler would eavesdrop on his older brother’s piano lessons. After the teacher left, Bruinsma would climb onto the piano bench to practice his brother’s lesson assignment. Later on, he chose to attend Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids, Mich., for its music program.
Following high school graduation in 1933, Bruinsma attended the University of Michigan for a degree in music. He stayed on to complete a Ph.D. in musicology, becoming the first musicologist to graduate from the University of Michigan. It was during his graduate work that Bruinsma wrote Scherzo on a Dutch Nursery Song. “He never lost his love for Dutch history or Dutch Reformed music,” Grace Bruinsma said.
It was also during his time at U of M that Bruinsma began taking Grace to music concerts, and in 1939 they were married.
Bruinsma began his time as a professor of music at Calvin College (1946-55). In addition to his teaching duties at the college, Bruinsma taught the first music and theology course at Calvin Seminary. He also chaired the first Conference on Liturgy of Music.
However, not long after his time at Calvin, Bruinsma decided he was being called to move from teaching to education administration. Of note is his time at Ohio State University (1959-64), where he served as the director of the School of Music. He also held the position of executive committee member of the College of Education.
Next, Bruinsma moved to what is now Arizona State University (1964-79), another notable mark in his education administration career. During that time, he served first as chair of the School of Music, then as founding dean of the College of Fine Arts. He is also known to have started the first religious studies program at Arizona State as part of the university’s interdisciplinary studies program.
Due to the amount of time he spent in education administration, much of Bruinsma’s musical compositions were never published. After his death, Grace Bruinsma contacted Gerry Bouma of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa. Bouma and Henry Bruinsma had met in 1969 at a Grand Rapids Christian High School concert in Chicago. “For whatever reason, Henry and Grace treated us like we were their kids,” Bouma said. Grace asked Bouma to catalog and publish the 10,000 pages of Henry’s material. Taking a semester sabbatical, Bouma began his work.
Bouma’s catalog of Bruinsma’s work can be found in the Heritage Hall Archives at the Hekman Library, Calvin College. The Archives also hosts additional works from Bruinsma’s time at Calvin.
--Excerpted from Calvin Spark, Spring 2006 issue
Henry A. Bruinsma
