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Catherine Winkworth

1827 - 1878 Translator of "Him On Yonder Cross I Love" in The Cyber Hymnal Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used in many modern hymnals. Her work was published in two series of Lyra Germanica (1855, 1858) and in The Chorale Book for England (1863), which included the appropriate German tune with each text as provided by Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Winkworth also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors, Christian Singers of Germany (1869). Bert Polman ======================== Winkworth, Catherine, daughter of Henry Winkworth, of Alderley Edge, Cheshire, was born in London, Sep. 13, 1829. Most of her early life was spent in the neighbourhood of Manchester. Subsequently she removed with the family to Clifton, near Bristol. She died suddenly of heart disease, at Monnetier, in Savoy, in July, 1878. Miss Winkworth published:— Translations from the German of the Life of Pastor Fliedner, the Founder of the Sisterhood of Protestant Deaconesses at Kaiserworth, 1861; and of the Life of Amelia Sieveking, 1863. Her sympathy with practical efforts for the benefit of women, and with a pure devotional life, as seen in these translations, received from her the most practical illustration possible in the deep and active interest which she took in educational work in connection with the Clifton Association for the Higher Education of Women, and kindred societies there and elsewhere. Our interest, however, is mainly centred in her hymnological work as embodied in her:— (1) Lyra Germanica, 1st Ser., 1855. (2) Lyra Germanica, 2nd Ser., 1858. (3) The Chorale Book for England (containing translations from the German, together with music), 1863; and (4) her charming biographical work, the Christian Singers of Germany, 1869. In a sympathetic article on Miss Winkworth in the Inquirer of July 20, 1878, Dr. Martineau says:— "The translations contained in these volumes are invariably faithful, and for the most part both terse and delicate; and an admirable art is applied to the management of complex and difficult versification. They have not quite the fire of John Wesley's versions of Moravian hymns, or the wonderful fusion and reproduction of thought which may be found in Coleridge. But if less flowing they are more conscientious than either, and attain a result as poetical as severe exactitude admits, being only a little short of ‘native music'" Dr. Percival, then Principal of Clifton College, also wrote concerning her (in the Bristol Times and Mirror), in July, 1878:— "She was a person of remarkable intellectual and social gifts, and very unusual attainments; but what specially distinguished her was her combination of rare ability and great knowledge with a certain tender and sympathetic refinement which constitutes the special charm of the true womanly character." Dr. Martineau (as above) says her religious life afforded "a happy example of the piety which the Church of England discipline may implant.....The fast hold she retained of her discipleship of Christ was no example of ‘feminine simplicity,' carrying on the childish mind into maturer years, but the clear allegiance of a firm mind, familiar with the pretensions of non-Christian schools, well able to test them, and undiverted by them from her first love." Miss Winkworth, although not the earliest of modern translators from the German into English, is certainly the foremost in rank and popularity. Her translations are the most widely used of any from that language, and have had more to do with the modern revival of the English use of German hymns than the versions of any other writer. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907) ============================ See also in: Hymn Writers of the Church

Joseph Parry

1841 - 1903 Composer of "ABERYSTWYTH" in The Cyber Hymnal Joseph Parry (b. Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales, 1841; d. Penarth, Glamorganshire, 1903) was born into a poor but musical family. Although he showed musical gifts at an early age, he was sent to work in the puddling furnaces of a steel mill at the age of nine. His family immigrated to a Welsh settlement in Danville, Pennsylvania in 1854, where Parry later started a music school. He traveled in the United States and in Wales, performing, studying, and composing music, and he won several Eisteddfodau (singing competition) prizes. Parry studied at the Royal Academy of Music and at Cambridge, where part of his tuition was paid by interested community people who were eager to encourage his talent. From 1873 to 1879 he was professor of music at the Welsh University College in Aberystwyth. After establishing private schools of music in Aberystwyth and in Swan sea, he was lecturer and professor of music at the University College of South Wales in Cardiff (1888-1903). Parry composed oratorios, cantatas, an opera, orchestral and chamber music, as well as some four hundred hymn tunes. Bert Polman

Johann Christoph Rube

1665 - 1746 Person Name: Johann C. Rube Author of "Him On Yonder Cross I Love" in The Cyber Hymnal Rube, Johann Christoph, was born Nov. 20, 1665, his father being then pastor at Hohen-und Thal-Ebra, near Sondershausen. After completing his studies in law, and becoming a licentiate, he was appointed judge (Amtmann) at Burggemünden near Alsfeld, and then, about 1704, at Battenberg (both in Hesse-Darmstadt). He died at Battenberg, May 30, 1746. Rube was a most prolific writer of hymns. In the Universal Gesang-Buch published at Homburg in 5 vols., 1738-44, there are, according to the markings by Count Christian Ernst of Weraigerode in his private copy, no less than 536 by Rube. The earliest appeared in Luppius's Andächtig Singender Christen-Mund, Wesel, 1692, and the Geistreiches Gesang-Buch, Darmstadt, 1698…. Many of his hymns are excellent, thoughtful, good in style, and warm in feeling. Of Rube's hymns those which have passed into English are:— i. Der am Kreuz ist was ich meine, Und sonst nichts in aller Welt. Passiontide. The older hymn beginning "Der am Kreuz ist meine Liebe, Meine Lieb ist Jesus Christ" is first found in Ahasuerus Fritsch's Jesus-Lieder, 1668, No. 21, and is probably by Fritsch. It is quite different from Rube's hymn and has not been tr. into English. The translations from Rube are (1) "Him on yonder cross I love," by Miss Winkworth, 1858, p. 33, repeated in Schaff's Christ in Song, 1869, p. 189. (2) "More than all the world beside," by R. Massie in his Lyra Domestica, 1864, p. 122, and thence in Reid's Praise Book, 1872. ii. Der Herr bricht ein zu Mitternacht. Second Advent. Sometimes erroneously ascribed to N. L. von Zinzendorf. Translated as:— The Lord shall come in dead of night. iii. Schlaf sanft und wohl! schlaf liebes Kind. Cradle Hymn…It is worthy of attention as being one of the finest hymns of its class. Tr. as:— Sleep well, my Dear! sleep safe and free! [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --exerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)