Person Results

Switch back to the old search page.Advanced Search

Showing 1 - 4 of 4Results Per Page: 10 20 50

Louis Bourgeois

1510 - 1561 Composer of "TOULON" in The Beacon Hymnal 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

Marion Franklin Ham

1867 - 1956 Author of "O Lord of Life" in Representative American Hymns of the Twentieth Century Born: February 18, 1867, Harveysburg, Ohio. Died: July 23, 1956, Arlington, Massachusetts. Buried: Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ham began his career as a journalist and bank clerk in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ordained a Unitarian minister in 1898, he pastored in Chattanooga (1898-1904); at the First Church in Dallas, Texas (1904-09); and in Reading (1909-34), Waverly (1934-42), and Gardner, Massachusetts (1943-45). The Meadville Theological School in Chicago, Illinois, awarded him a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1942, the year he retired. Ham’s works include: The Golden Shuttle, 1896 The Kinchin Stories, 1914 Songs of the Spirit, 1932 Songs of Faith and Hope, 1940 O Mother-Heart, 1941 Keeper of the Flame, 1945 Freedom, 1950 Songs at Sunset, 1951 Songs of a Lifetime, 1953 In a Rose Garden, 1954 www.hymntime.com/tch/

David Evans

1874 - 1948 Harmonizer of "ERFYNIAD" in At Worship David Evans (b. Resolven, Glamorganshire, Wales, 1874; d. Rosllannerchrugog, Denbighshire, Wales, 1948) was an important leader in Welsh church music. Educated at Arnold College, Swansea, and at University College, Cardiff, he received a doctorate in music from Oxford University. His longest professional post was as professor of music at University College in Cardiff (1903-1939), where he organized a large music department. He was also a well-known and respected judge at Welsh hymn-singing festivals and a composer of many orchestral and choral works, anthems, service music, and hymn tunes. Bert Polman