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Samuel Sebastian Wesley

1810 - 1876 Person Name: Samuel S. Wesley Composer of "[From all Thy saints in warfare]" in The Lutheran Hymnary Samuel Sebastian Wesley (b. London, England, 1810; d. Gloucester, England, 1876) was an English organist and composer. The grandson of Charles Wesley, he was born in London, and sang in the choir of the Chapel Royal as a boy. He learned composition and organ from his father, Samuel, completed a doctorate in music at Oxford, and composed for piano, organ, and choir. He was organist at Hereford Cathedral (1832-1835), Exeter Cathedral (1835-1842), Leeds Parish Church (1842-1849), Winchester Cathedral (1849-1865), and Gloucester Cathedral (1865-1876). Wesley strove to improve the standards of church music and the status of church musicians; his observations and plans for reform were published as A Few Words on Cathedral Music and the Music System of the Church (1849). He was the musical editor of Charles Kemble's A Selection of Psalms and Hymns (1864) and of the Wellburn Appendix of Original Hymns and Tunes (1875) but is best known as the compiler of The European Psalmist (1872), in which some 130 of the 733 hymn tunes were written by him. Bert Polman

Henry Thomas Smart

1813 - 1879 Person Name: Henry Smart Composer of "LANCASHIRE" in Church Hymnal Henry Smart (b. Marylebone, London, England, 1813; d. Hampstead, London, 1879), a capable composer of church music who wrote some very fine hymn tunes (REGENT SQUARE, 354, is the best-known). Smart gave up a career in the legal profession for one in music. Although largely self taught, he became proficient in organ playing and composition, and he was a music teacher and critic. Organist in a number of London churches, including St. Luke's, Old Street (1844-1864), and St. Pancras (1864-1869), Smart was famous for his extemporizations and for his accompaniment of congregational singing. He became completely blind at the age of fifty-two, but his remarkable memory enabled him to continue playing the organ. Fascinated by organs as a youth, Smart designed organs for important places such as St. Andrew Hall in Glasgow and the Town Hall in Leeds. He composed an opera, oratorios, part-songs, some instrumental music, and many hymn tunes, as well as a large number of works for organ and choir. He edited the Choralebook (1858), the English Presbyterian Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867), and the Scottish Presbyterian Hymnal (1875). Some of his hymn tunes were first published in Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). Bert Polman

Ralph Vaughan Williams

1872 - 1958 Person Name: Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1872-1958 Arranger of "KING'S LYNN" in Lutheran Service Book Through his composing, conducting, collecting, editing, and teaching, Ralph Vaughan Williams (b. Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, England, October 12, 1872; d. Westminster, London, England, August 26, 1958) became the chief figure in the realm of English music and church music in the first half of the twentieth century. His education included instruction at the Royal College of Music in London and Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as additional studies in Berlin and Paris. During World War I he served in the army medical corps in France. Vaughan Williams taught music at the Royal College of Music (1920-1940), conducted the Bach Choir in London (1920-1927), and directed the Leith Hill Music Festival in Dorking (1905-1953). A major influence in his life was the English folk song. A knowledgeable collector of folk songs, he was also a member of the Folksong Society and a supporter of the English Folk Dance Society. Vaughan Williams wrote various articles and books, including National Music (1935), and composed numerous arrangements of folk songs; many of his compositions show the impact of folk rhythms and melodic modes. His original compositions cover nearly all musical genres, from orchestral symphonies and concertos to choral works, from songs to operas, and from chamber music to music for films. Vaughan Williams's church music includes anthems; choral-orchestral works, such as Magnificat (1932), Dona Nobis Pacem (1936), and Hodie (1953); and hymn tune settings for organ. But most important to the history of hymnody, he was music editor of the most influential British hymnal at the beginning of the twentieth century, The English Hymnal (1906), and coeditor (with Martin Shaw) of Songs of Praise (1925, 1931) and the Oxford Book of Carols (1928). Bert Polman

Melchior Teschner

1584 - 1635 Composer of "ST. THEODULPH" in Hymns of the Faith with Psalms Melchior Teschner (b. Fraustadt [now Wschowa, Poland], Silesia, 1584; d. Oberpritschen, near Fraustadt, 1635) studied philosophy, theology, and music at the University of Frankfurt an-der-Oder and later studied at the universities of Helmstedt and Wittenberg, Germany. From 1609 until 1614 he served as cantor in the Lutheran church in Fraustadt, and from 1614 until his death he was pastor of the church in Oberpritschen. Bert Polman

George James Webb

1803 - 1887 Person Name: George J. Webb Composer of "WEBB" in Hymnal for American Youth George James Webb, b. 1803,England; d. 1887, Orange, N. J. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1908

John Stainer

1840 - 1901 Composer of "STAINERS" in Hymnal and Canticles of the Protestant Episcopal Church with Music (Gilbert & Goodrich)

Henry J. Gauntlett

1805 - 1876 Person Name: Henry John Gauntlett (1806-1876) Composer of "NELSON" in Many Voices; or, Carmina Sanctorum, Evangelistic Edition with Tunes Henry J. Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, July 9, 1805; d. London, England, February 21, 1876) When he was nine years old, Henry John Gauntlett (b. Wellington, Shropshire, England, 1805; d. Kensington, London, England, 1876) became organist at his father's church in Olney, Buckinghamshire. At his father's insistence he studied law, practicing it until 1844, after which he chose to devote the rest of his life to music. He was an organist in various churches in the London area and became an important figure in the history of British pipe organs. A designer of organs for William Hill's company, Gauntlett extended the organ pedal range and in 1851 took out a patent on electric action for organs. Felix Mendelssohn chose him to play the organ part at the first performance of Elijah in Birmingham, England, in 1846. Gauntlett is said to have composed some ten thousand hymn tunes, most of which have been forgotten. Also a supporter of the use of plainchant in the church, Gauntlett published the Gregorian Hymnal of Matins and Evensong (1844). Bert Polman

John Baptiste Calkin

1827 - 1905 Person Name: J. B. Calkin (1827-1905) Composer of "SAVOY CHAPEL" in The Hymnal of Praise John Baptiste Calkin United Kingdom 1827-1905. Born in London, he was reared in a musical atmosphere. Studying music under his father, and with three brothers, he became a composer, organist, and music teacher. At 19, he was appointed organist, precenter, and choirmaster at St. Columbia's College, Dublin, Ireland, 1846 to 1853. From 1853 to 1863 we was organist and choirmaster at Woburn Chapel, London. From 1863 to 1868, he was organist of Camden Road Chapel. From 1870 to 1884 he was organist at St. Thomas's Church, Camden Town. In 1883 he became professor at Guildhall School of Music and concentrated on teaching and composing. He was also a professor of music and on the council of Trinity College, London, and a member of the Philharmonic Society (1862). In 1893 he was a fellow of the College of Organists. John and wife, Victoire, had four sons, each following a musical carer. He wrote much music for organ and scored string arrangements, sonatas, duos, etc. He died at Hornsey Rise Gardens. John Perry

Horatio Nelson

1823 - 1913 Author of "From all Thy saints in warfare" in The Lutheran Hymnary Earl Nelson was born in 1823. He was educated at Eton, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a relative of England's greatest naval hero. An active layman, he has been of service to the Church in many of her religious and benevolent enterprises. In hymnology he has taken a prominent position; his own hymns are most creditable, and he has been foremost in compiling the Sarum Hymnal, a work of the best character. This hymnal was compiled in 1857, with the assistance of John Keble, at the request of the Bishop of Salisbury. Its first title was The Salisbury Hymn Book. Its popularity was very great. In 1868 it was revised and is now known as The Sarum Hymnal. Earl Nelson has also published a few other works, mostly of a devotional character. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A., 1872 Nelson, Horatio, 3rd Earl Nelson, son of Mr. Thomas Bolton, of Burnham, Norfolk (nephew of the celebrated Admiral Viscount Nelson, whose name he assumed on succeeding to the title as 2nd Earl); was born Aug. 7, 1823, and educated at Eton, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded to the title Nov. 1, 1835. In 1857 he edited the Salisbury Hymn-Book. In this work he was assisted by J. Keble, who re-wrote some of the older hymns and translated others from the Latin. This collection was remodelled and published as the Sarum Hymnal in 1868. In the preparation of this work Earl Nelson was assisted by the Revs. J. R. Woodford (afterwards Bishop of Ely) and E. A. Dayman. In 1864 he published his Hymn for Saint’s Day, and other Hymns. In this appeared the hymn by which he is most widely known, “From all Thy saints in warfare, for all Thy saints at rest" (p. 398, ii.). He has also published A Form of Family Prayer, with Special Offices for the Seasons, 1852; and A Calendar of Lessons for Every Day in the Year, 1857. He was also an active member of the Home Reunion Society, and wrote extensively on the subject. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

A. Ewing

1830 - 1895 Person Name: Alexander Ewing Composer of "EWING" in The Cyber Hymnal Alexander C (Rex) Ewing United Kingdom 1830-1895. Born at Aberdeen,Scotland, he studied music and German at Heidelberg University and law in Aberdeen. However, he did not qualify as a lawyer. A member of the Aberdeen Harmonic Choir and the Hadyn Society of Aberdeen, he was regarded as the most talented young musician in the city. He became an author, musician, editor, composer, and translator. He married Juliana Horatia Gatty in 1867. She died in 1885, and he remarried Elizabeth Margaret Cumby in 1886. He was a career officer in the British Army's Commissariat Department and subsequently the Army Pay Corps. He served at Constantinople during the Crimean War, thereafter in China for six years, then in Ireland during the Fenian Uprising. He was then in New Brunswick just after England created the British North American Act, creating the Dominion of Canada. He then went to Fredericton, where he played the organ and sang at Christ Church Cathedral. He was transferred to Aldershot. In 1879 he went to Malta, then served in Ceylon before returning to England. He reached the rank of Lt. Col. He translated several works by other authors. He retired and spent the last six years of his life in Taunton, England, where he died. John Perry