[No evil shall befall thee]

Arranger: E. O.Excell

Edwin Othello Excel USA 1851-1921. Born at Uniontown, OH, he started working as a bricklayer and plasterer. He loved music and went to Chicago to study it under George Root. He married Eliza Jane “Jennie” Bell in 1871. They had a son, William, in 1874. A member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he became a prominent publisher, composer, song leader, and singer of music for church, Sunday school, and evangelistic meetings. He founded singing schools at various locations in the country and worked with evangelist, Sam Jones, as his song leader for two decades. He established a music publishing house in Chicago and authored or composed over 2,000 gospel songs. While assisting Gypsy Smith in an evangelistic campaign in Louisville,… Go to person page >

Composer: Michael Costa

[Michaele Andrea Agniello Costa] Born: Feb­ru­a­ry 14, 1808, Na­ples, It­a­ly. Died: 1884, Hove, East Sus­sex, Eng­land. Buried: Ken­sal Green Cem­e­te­ry, Lon­don, Eng­land. Costa learned the ru­di­ments of mu­sic from his ma­ter­nal grand­fa­ther, Gi­a­co­mo Trit­to; he was placed at the Real Col­le­gio di Mu­si­ca in Na­ples, and af­ter a publ­ic ex­am re­ceived a schol­ar­ship from Fer­di­nand I, King of the Two Si­ci­lies. He com­posed his first can­ta­ta at age 15, and went on to write sym­pho­nies, or­a­tor­ios, op­er­as, and quar­tets. He event­u­al­ly moved to Lon­don, where he was knight­ed in 1869. In 1871, he be­came "di­rect­or of the mu­sic, com­pos­er, and… Go to person page >