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Arthur Sullivan

1842 - 1900 Person Name: Arthur Seymour Sullivan Composer of "MOUNT ZION" in The Cyber Hymnal Arthur Seymour Sullivan (b Lambeth, London. England. 1842; d. Westminster, London, 1900) was born of an Italian mother and an Irish father who was an army bandmaster and a professor of music. Sullivan entered the Chapel Royal as a chorister in 1854. He was elected as the first Mendelssohn scholar in 1856, when he began his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (1858-1861) and in 1866 was appointed professor of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Early in his career Sullivan composed oratorios and music for some Shakespeare plays. However, he is best known for writing the music for lyrics by William S. Gilbert, which produced popular operettas such as H.M.S. Pinafore (1878), The Pirates of Penzance (1879), The Mikado (1884), and Yeomen of the Guard (1888). These operettas satirized the court and everyday life in Victorian times. Although he composed some anthems, in the area of church music Sullivan is best remembered for his hymn tunes, written between 1867 and 1874 and published in The Hymnary (1872) and Church Hymns (1874), both of which he edited. He contributed hymns to A Hymnal Chiefly from The Book of Praise (1867) and to the Presbyterian collection Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867). A complete collection of his hymns and arrangements was published posthumously as Hymn Tunes by Arthur Sullivan (1902). Sullivan steadfastly refused to grant permission to those who wished to make hymn tunes from the popular melodies in his operettas. Bert Polman

Godfrey Thring

1823 - 1903 Person Name: Rev. Godfrey Thring Author of "Lord of power, Lord of might" in Church Hymns and Tunes Godfrey Thring (b. Alford, Somersetshire, England, 1823; d. Shamley Green, Guilford, Surrey, England, 1903) was born in the parsonage of Alford, where his father was rector. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, England, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England in 1847. After serving in several other parishes, Thring returned to Alford and Hornblotten in 1858 to succeed his father as rector, a position he retained until his own retirement in 1893. He was also associated with Wells Cathedral (1867-1893). After 1861 Thring wrote many hymns and published several hymnals, including Hymns Congregational (1866), Hymns and Sacred Lyrics (1874), and the respected A Church of England Hymn Book Adapted to the Daily Services of the Church Throughout the Year (1880), which was enlarged as The Church of England Hymn Book (1882). Bert Polman ================ Thring, Godfrey, B.A., son of the Rev. J. G. D. Thring, of Alford, Somerset, was born at Alford, March 25, 1823, and educated at Shrewsbury School, and at Balliol College, Oxford, B.A. in 1845. On taking Holy Orders he was curate of Stratfield-Turgis, 1846-50; of Strathfieldsaye, 1850-53; and of other parishes to 1858, when he became rector of Alford-with-Hornblotton, Somerset. R.D. 1867-76. In 1876 he was preferred as prebend of East Harptree in Wells cathedral. Prebendary Thring's poetical works are:— Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866; Hymns and Verses, 1866; and Hymns and Sacred Lyrics, 1874. In 1880 he published A Church of England Hymnbook Adapted to the Daily Services of the Church throughout the Year; and in 1882, a revised and much improved edition of the same as The Church of England Hymn Book, &c. A great many of Prebendary Thring's hymns are annotated under their respective first lines; the rest in common use include:— 1. Beneath the Church's hallowed shade. Consecration of a Burial Ground. Written in 1870. This is one of four hymns set to music by Dr. Dykes, and first published by Novello & Co., 1873. It was also included (but without music) in the author's Hymns & Sacred Lyrics, 1874, p. 170, and in his Collection, 1882. 2. Blessed Saviour, Thou hast taught us. Quinquagesima. Written in 1866, and first published in the author's Hymns Congregational and Others, 1866. It was republished in his Hymns & Sacred Lyrics, 1874; and his Collection, 1882. It is based upon the Epistle for Quinquagesima. 3. Blot out our sins of old. Lent. Written in 1862, and first published in Hymns Congregational and Others

Henry Thomas Smart

1813 - 1879 Person Name: H. Smart Composer of "HEATHLANDS" in Church Hymns and Tunes 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

Walter G. Alcock

1861 - 1947 Person Name: W. Alcock Composer of "PRESTON" in The Westminster Abbey Hymn-Book Walter Galpin Alcock United Kingdom 1861-1947. Born at Edenbridge, Kent, England, the son of the superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Orphanage at Fortescue, Twickenham. He was musically inclined. He won a scholarship to the National Training School for Music at age 15. There, he studied composition with Arthur Sullivan and organ with Sir John Stainer. After several brief posts at Holy Trinity Sloan Street and St Margaret’s Westminster, he was appointed Organ Professor at the Royal College of Music, London, in 1893. That year he married Naomi Blanche Lucas, and they had six daughters and a son: Naomi Judith, Dorothy Grace, Constance Marjorie, Ruth Blanche, Lucy Rachel, Kathleen Stainer, and Richard. In 1896 he was assistant organist of Westminster Abbey and concurrently organist and master of the children of the Chapel Royal (1902-1916). He became organist and Master of the Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral (1916-1947). He also oversaw a strictly faithful restoration of the famous Father Willis organ. He would not allow parts of the organ being refurbished to leave the cathedral, lest an unauthorized tonal alteration might be made without his approval, but he did work with the grandson of Father Willis, Henry Willis III, to modernize the organ’s action. Alcock had the distinction of playing at the coronation of three kings: Edward VII (1902); George V (1911); and George VI (1937). Between 1917-1924 he, with Harford Lloyd, juggled the post of Director of the Madrigal Society, assisting the ageing Sir Frederick Bridge, who had been appointed in 1888. Alcock was knighted in 1933 for services to music. He was a distinguished teacher, whose published material for organ students is still thought of value. He taught several notable pupils. He had the hobby of constructing a model railway at Salisbury on which choir boys could take rides. He was said to have all his musical talent and dexterity at the organ when age 80, that he had at age 50, and with greater maturity and mellowness. He died at age 85. His funeral service was at Salisbury Cathedral. John Perry

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