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As a youth Abelard showed unusual academic ability, and studied philosophy and theology instead of the military training his family had intended. He became a priest, lecturer and Canon of Notre Dâme Cathedral, Paris, where he was a popular lecturer with students but offended colleagues and seniors with his rationalistic views. He would have been a prime target for what we now call "the gutter press", partly because of his unconventional views, and partly because of a passionate love affair with Héloïse, niece of Canon Fulbert. They were secretly married and had a child; but at the instigation of his uncle-in-law, Abelard was forcibly castrated. He became a monk and Héloïse a nun. After a while Abelard resumed teaching, to the delight of his students; but he was accused of heresy by Bernard of Clairvaux, tried, and forbidden to teach. He appealed to Rome, but died on the way there to present his case.
Abelard and Héloïse were buried together in Paris. Their story is told by - among others - Helen Waddell in her novel Peter Abelard (1933).
His hymns were not widely known for several centuries; but in the mid-19th century a number of hymns were discovered in the Royal Library at Brussels, in a collection which Abelard had made for the Convent of the Paraclete where Héloïse became the abbess. These include the Latin originals of the two hymns in RS.
(See also Julian, p.7a)
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A carpenter by trade, he moved to Birmingham in 1869 to train as an evangelist under David King, one of the leading members of the Churches of Christ. (At the time the Churches of Christ had no training Colleges; and David King himself opposed their establishment in principle, preferring a training course based on practical experience.) Joseph Adam was among a minority who commended the idea of a training institution; but it was not until 1920, the year after his death, that the Association founded Overdale College in Moseley, Birmingham (later in Selly Oak).
After completing his training he moved to Leicester, and became for more than 25 years one of the most widely-known evangelists with the Churches of Christ. He was particularly interested in Sunday School work, and at an early period in his ministry advocated a Sunday School Conference, subsequently held during the Annual Meetings of the Association.
In his later years he returned to his trade of carpentry.
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Very little is known about him. He entered the Abbey of St Victor as a young man, to become a monk; and spent his entire life there, dying in the Abbey somewhere between the dates indicated.
He spent most of his life studying and writing, and composed numerous hymns and sequences including, it is supposed, many which have not survived in MS. Between 30 and 40 were published early in the 16th century; the rest of the surviving hymns (which total 106) were discovered in the National Library in the Louvre and published in a complete edition by M.Léon Gautier in 1858.
(See also Julian, pp.14b-15)
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The son of a clergyman who later became Dean of Lichfield, Addison was educated at Charterhouse and at The Queen's and Magdalen Colleges, Oxford. He became a politician, dramatist and essayist, best known for his collaboration with Richard Steele on The Spectator during 1711-12. He is generally believed to be the author of five of the six hymns published in The Spectator during the period 26 July to 18 October 1712, signed either `C' or `O', of which `When all thy mercies' was the third. When the revised edition of the Scottish Translations and Paraphrases was published in 1781, five hymns which were not Biblical paraphrases were appended to it; the first three of these (including the hymn mentioned) were among the five Spectator hymns attributed to Addison.
Addison's authorship of the anonymous hymns is not now seriously disputed; and the attribution of RS-109 merely errs on the side of caution.
(See also DNB; OCEL; Julian pp.16-18)
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His father Thomas Ainger was an Anglican clergyman, Vicar of Hampstead and Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral. A.C.Ainger was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained a first class degree in classics; he then returned to Eton as an assistant master (1864), remaining there until his retirement in 1901.
He was a fluent writer, and composed songs and hymns for use at Eton in addition to works arising from his interest in classics and in the history of the College. Julian (p.1601) lists ten of his hymns, and refers to others `not in common use'; but only three of these - including the two which appear in Rejoice & Sing - seem to have survived in 20th century hymn-books. (The third - not in RS - begins `God of our fathers, unto Thee', and was in the English Hymnal 1906/33, Ancient & Modern 1916 and the Methodist Hymn Book 1933.)
The Handbook to the Revised Church Hymnary 1927(1935) quotes a tribute to him (anonymous, but possibly from a former colleague at Eton?), describing him as `one of the most distinguished and useful of Eton masters, a man of clear head, controlling character, wide accomplishments, a fine and habile scholar of the old school, with a remarkable memory, an incisive speaker, a good critic, fertile in suggestion, complete in execution. [ He ] preserved admirable and friendly discipline by means of a dry and ready irony, which was never harsh or unamiable. He set no punishments, and his justice, courtesy, and unruffled good humour won the respect and admiration of the boys.'
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He was educated at Brackendale School, Norwich; Richmond College, London; and Union Theological Seminary, New York. He has held various posts as a Methodist minister and lecturer, including four years at Loughton, Essex (1958-62), where he wrote `Born in the night'. From 1962-1971 he was a member of a Group Ministry at Notting Hill, London, where the hymn was first published (Songs from Notting Hill, 1964).
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After study at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1960-67, he served as a Roman Catholic Priest 1966-75. He was secretary of the Society of St Gregory 1968-79; and since 1982 has been Director of Music at the Church of Our Lady and St Gregory, Barnet, Hertfordshire. He co-edited the Roman Catholic hymnal Praise the Lord 1972, to which he contributed two hymn-tunes and various psalm and liturgical settings.
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[ * not Redcross, Co.Wicklow, as erroneously given in some reference books ]
She was married in 1850 to the Revd William Alexander, who became Bishop of Derry and Raphoe in 1867 and subsequently (after her death) Archbishop of Armagh. She wrote nearly 400 hymns and poems; many of these were intended for children (her translation of the `Breastplate' hymn, RS-36, being a notable exception). Her best-known book Hymns for Little Children, containing verses expounding the articles of the Catechism and the Apostles Creed, was published in 1848.
A full-length biography by Valerie Wallace was published in 1995, the centenary of her death (Mrs Alexander: The Lilliput Press, Dublin; ISBN 1 874675 46 5 )
(See also DNB; Julian p.38b)
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His parents moved from Glasgow to Birmingham before he was one year old, and he grew up as a Birmingham boy, studying at King Edward's High School and then Birmingham University, and attending Carrs Lane Church, Birmingham, during this time. He qualified as a teacher, and in due course became Senior English Master at Woking County Grammar School for Boys, where he taught from 1945-76.
He studied independently for the Congregational ministry, taking the Roll of Ministers examinations of the Congregational Union of England & Wales in 1966. On his retirement from teaching in 1976 he was ordained as a United Reformed Church minister, serving for the next five years as minister of Prestbury and Warden Hill U.R.Churches, Gloucestershire; some health problems, however, necessitated his retirement from full-time ministry in 1981. In 1984 he moved to Herefordshire, where he continued to take part in local church services until his death.
He wrote a number of hymns, some of which he published in a type-written booklet entitled Prayer and Praise (from which his hymn in Rejoice & Sing was taken). In most cases these were suggested to existing tunes from Congregational Praise.
Towards the end of his life he found himself (as he wrote to the present Editor) `sympathetic to the Quaker universalist point of view - and distressed by [ an ] increasingly literalist interpretation of Scripture' which he believed was to be found in the U.R.C. He remained, however, grateful for the fellowship of the Church to which he belonged and which retained his allegiance.
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He was of Scottish ancestry, but remained in the country of his birth, his career alternating between Professorships at Princeton University (Rhetoric; Church History) and Presbyterian pastorates in New York City. His hymn-writing consisted of translations, published in 1861 under the title The Breaking Crucible and Other Translations.
and the hymn collection mentioned above
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He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow. He took Holy Orders in 1833, and after several parish appointments he became Dean of Canterbury in 1857. He wrote numerous hymns and poems, and published a number of collections both of his own works and of others, including a hymnal A Year of Praise (1867) for use in Canterbury Cathedral; but a major work was an edition of the Greek Testament on which he spent 20 years.
There is a statue of him in a niche on the West Front of Canterbury Cathedral.
(See also DNB; Julian pp.39b-40a)
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He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, and became successively Fellow of All Souls, Oxford; Headmaster of Shrewsbury School 1908-16 (where the fine Concert Hall is named after him); Headmaster of Eton 1917-33; and Dean of Durham 1933-51.
(See also DNB)
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He was educated at Cheshunt College, Hertfordshire, and became an Independent Minister at Union Chapel, Islington in 1844. He was a co-editor of the New Congregational Hymn Book 1859, and continued to edit and contribute to hymnals throughout his working life.
He was a scholarly editor rather than a writer of hymns, however; and even the attribution to him of RS-747 is only conjecture. Neverthless he had a considerable influence on the development of Congregational hymnody during the latter half of the 19th century.
An obituary notice appeared in the Year Book of the Congregational Union of England & Wales, 1893.
(See also DNB; Julian pp.51b & 1602b)
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She was blind almost from birth, and educated at the New York Institute for the Blind. In 1858 she married Alexander van Alstyne, himself a blind musician. She was a prolific hymn-writer, and is said for some years to have kept a contract with a publisher to write three hymns every week. It is estimated that she wrote over 9000 hymns; this probably exceeds even the combined output of the Wesley brothers in quantity, though hardly in quality.
(See also DAB, under `Crosby'; Julian pp.1203b-1205a & 1720)
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Born of a noble family, he studied law at Rome, and subsequently became consul of Liguria and Aemilia, with an administrative centre at Milan. On the death of the Bishop of Milan in 374, Ambrose was appointed in his place by popular recommendation. He is sometimes described as the founder of Latin hymnody, and as one of the four "Latin Doctors of the Church".
(See also Julian pp.56-7)
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He spent his whole life in Cambridge, where he was organist of King's College 1855-76, and also at Peterhouse and Christ's College. For many years he was conductor of the Cambridge University Music Society.
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Qualified in both theology and music, he served as a Lutheran pastor in various parts of the USA. He was also Assistant Director of the Commission on Worship of the Lutheran Church of America, a professor of music, editor at the (Lutheran) Augsburg Publishing House, Minneapolis, and served on the hymn music committee of the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship 1967-75. In addition to hymn-tunes he has composed choral works.
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Her father, James Angus, was a minister of the West United Free Church in Stirling. Dorothy Angus was trained at Edinburgh College of Art, and became Head of the Department of Embroidery and Weaving at Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen, where she taught from 1920-55. Her retirement years were spent in Edinburgh, where she died.
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He was educated at Hurstpierpoint College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He trained for the Anglican priesthood at Chichester Theological College, and subsequently held a number of posts and livings. He was Diocesan Director of Education at Chelmsford 1975-90, and Canon of Chelmsford Cathedral 1978-90. He was a co-founder of the Twentieth Century Church Light Music Group in 1957 and its first secretary, and contributed a number of hymns and tunes to its publications.
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Thomas of Aquino was born of wealthy parents, his father being Count of Aquino (? roman Aquinum, mid-way between Rome and Naples). He was sent to a Benedictine Monastery at the age of 5, and later to the University of Naples. He became a member of the Dominican Order, despite the opposition of his mother and brothers, and in due course was recognised as one of the leading scholars and theologians of the Mediaeval Church, becoming known as "The Angelical Doctor". His major work was the unfinished Summa Theologica, which has carried an authority for many Catholic scholars comparable to that of the Bible and Papal decrees. His hymns, which have been widely translated, are mostly on the theme of the Lord's Supper.
(see also Julian, pp.1166b-1167)
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After study at the Royal College of Music he was organ scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge 1972-75; Assistant Director of Music, Magdalen College School, Oxford 1976-78; Assistant Organist, Norwich Cathedral 1978-83; and Organist and Master of the Choristers, Bristol Cathedral 1983-89. After an interval during which he concentrated on composition, conducting, and a career as an organ recitalist, he became organist at Wells Cathedral in 1996.
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He worked as a clerk and a policeman before joining the BBC as a producer in 1945. He was best known for his broadcast cricket commentaries and his writings on the game, but was also an expert on other sports and on food and wine; he was the author of books on Topography, Sport, and English Cheeses, and published several anthologies of verse including his own poems. He wrote four hymns on the seasons and agriculture for the BBC Hymn Book (1951), of which three were accepted; `God, whose farm' is the best known of these.
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The son of a schoolmaster and singer, he was a chorister at Norwich and Rochester Cathedrals. So valued was he as a solo boy at Rochester that, when he left the choir. the Dean and Chapter presented him with a grand piano (purchased for 65 guineas by public subscription). He was organist of Trinity Church, Milton, Gravesend in 1854; St Andrew's, Wells Street, London 1857-61; Chichester Cathedral 1861-62; and Durham Cathedral from 1863-1907. He was music examiner at Durham and Oxford Universities and in 1897 was appointed the first Professor of Music at Durham. His compositions include organ music, anthems, other church music and oratorios.
(See also DNB; GDM)
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His father was a coal merchant, and also a noted player of the trumpet and viola. As a chorister in the Chapel Royal the young Thomas Attwood came under the notice of the Prince of Wales (later George IV) who sent him to study in Italy. Later, in Vienna, he became Mozart's only English pupil. In 1796 he was appointed to organist of St Paul's Cathedral and composer to the Chapel Royal. He was music teacher to several members of the royal family; in 1821 he became organist of George IV's private chapel at Brighton, and in 1825 musician-in-ordinary to the King. He was one of the first Professors of the Royal Academy of Music on its foundation in 1823.
He was a founder member of the Philharmonic Society in 1813, and one of the first Englishmen to recognise the genius of Mendelssohn, whose Three Preludes and Fugues for organ were dedicated to him.
In his early years he composed for the theatre, and did not write church music until fairly late in life. His church music was collected and published in 1853 by his godson Thomas Attwood Walmisley.
In addition to many songs, glees and sonatas, he wrote coronation anthems for George IV and William IV, and at the time of his death was at work on one for Queen Victoria. He is buried under the organ in St Paul's Cathedral.
(See also DNB; GDM; OCM)
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Harriet, as she is generally called, was the daughter of James Auber, Rector of Tring, and a great-grand-daughter of a Huguenot refugee from Ecquetat, Normandy, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV after 1680. She wrote devotional and other poetry; her chief work was The Spirit of the Psalms; or, a Compressed Version of the Psalms of David (1829), a collection of psalm-versions and other hymns mainly of her own composition, of which `Our blest Redeemer' is one.
(See also Julian, p.90b)
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Augustine was born into a largly pagan society (in spite of the official recognition of Christianity earlier in that century), and his own father did not become a Christian until many years later. He was converted in September 386 and baptised in the following year at the age of 33. After that his progress was rapid, by modern standards; he became a priest in 391, and Bishop of Hippo in 396. Three years later he wrote The Confessions, his own account of his childhood and manhood, concluding with an exposition of Genesis ch.1.
He began his greatest work The City of God after the Sack of Rome in 410, as a reply to pagans who attributed that event to the anger of the old Gods against Christianity. He died in 430 while the Vandals were besieging his episcopal city of Hippo.
Augustine was not a hymn-writer; but he is known for the simplicity and directness of his prayers, which have proved a worthy source of inspiration for recent hymns and hymn-paraphrases. Most of the currently-known prayers attributed to Augustine, however, are edited extracts sometimes only loosely based on his writings.
For further notes based on Charles Kingsley's imaginative descriptions in his novel Hypatia, see separate page (click here >> ... ).
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He was educated at Alleyn Court School, Westcliff-on Sea; St Edward's School, Oxford; and Brasenose College, Oxford. He taught classics and music at Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire 1957-87. He was then Director of Music at his old school, Alleyn Court, and organist of St Saviour's Church, Westcliffe-on-Sea.
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End of Biographies A. Return to Top . . .
(The Rejoice & Sing Enchiridion:edited by David Goodall; last amended 20/12/03)