♪ Music notes ♪

JOHANN DAVID HEINICHEN (1683-1729) was educated at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, Germany (where J. S. Bach later taught). While there, he also served as an assistant to the cantor, and, following completion of his education there, he went on to study at the University of Leipzig. After an initial career as a lawyer in Weissenfels, he returned to musical activity, followed by a period of work and study in Italy. In 1717, Heinichen was appointed Court Kapellmeister in Dresden – a position he retained until his death. He was an extremely prolific composer, and wrote operas, concertos, serenades and other pieces for voices and instruments, as well as masses, canticles, and other church music.

JOSEPH BARNBY (1838-1896) was an English organist, choirmaster and composer who showed his musical genius at a young age: he was an organist and choirmaster at the age of twelve. Educated at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he then was appointed organist at St. Andrew’s, Wells Street, London, where he raised the services to a high degree of musical excellence. It was at St. Andrew’s in 1864 that Barnby and the choir performed two anthems by Alice Mary Smith; this is believed to be the first time that liturgical music composed by a woman was performed in the Church of England. He also introduced annual performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, was active in regional music festivals, conducted the Royal Choral Society, and was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1892. His compositions include many anthems and service music for the Anglican liturgy, as well as 246 hymn tunes (published posthumously in 1897).

EDWARD CASWALL (1814-1878) was a British Anglican clergyman and hymn writer. He was the curate at an Anglican parish from 1840 to 1847, but in January of 1847, he resigned his curacy and converted to Roman Catholicism. His widely used hymn texts and translations include “When Morning Gilds the Skies”, “Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee”, “Earth Has Many a Noble City”, and the well-known Christmas carol “See Amid the Winter’s Snow”.

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759) was born in Halle, Germany. One of the most prolific, successful and revered composers and musicians of the Baroque period, he is to this day considered to be one of the greatest composers of that era, enjoying both public favour and royal patronage during his lifetime. Despite his eagerness to become a musician, he was disallowed by his father, and so had to conduct his musical training in secret. After spending a brief spell in Italy studying law to appease his father, but at the same time expanding his musical pursuits while out of his father’s control and knowledge, Handel was appointed as Kapellmeister for Prince George of the German Hanoverian family in 1710. He moved with Prince George to London, England, where the prince was crowned King George I of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1712 he decided to settle in England permanently, receiving an annual income of £200 from the royal family. His compositional output was immense: 42 operas, 29 oratorios (including Messiah, which has taken its rightful place as one of the most frequently performed and most beloved choral works of all time), more than 120 cantatas, duets, trios, arias, anthems, chamber music, organ works, sonatas and concertos. Three days before his death in 1759 Handel signed a codicil to his will saying he hoped he might be buried in Westminster Abbey, and desired that his executor erect a monument for him. The funeral was attended by about 3,000 people and the choirs of Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Chapel Royal sang the service. His black marble gravestone in the south transept reads: GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL BORN YE 23 FEBRUARY 1685 DIED YE 14 OF APRIL 1759.

BRYN AUSTIN REES (1911-1983) was ordained into the ministry of the Congregational Church in England and Wales in 1935, and was a chaplain to the Royal Air Force during World War II. In collaboration with William Lloyd Webber, organist of Westminster Methodist Central Hall, he wrote several anthems and an Easter cantata. The Kingdom of God is Justice and Joy is his most well known hymn.

ELAINE HAGENBERG (b. 1979) is an American composer whose music “soars with eloquence and ingenuity” (American Choral Directors Association Choral Journal.) Her compositions have received many awards, and are performed by schools, churches, universities, honour choirs and choral festivals throughout the United States and abroad. Notable performances include the National Youth Choir at Carnegie Hall, the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, the Melbourne International Choral Festival in Australia, and other international performances in South Africa, Taiwan and throughout Europe. Elaine graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and her compositions are published by many publishing houses.

JANE PARKER HUBER (1926-2008) was born in China to Presbyterian missionary parents but spent the majority of her life in Hanover, Indiana. She attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and graduated from Hanover College in 1948. An active Presbyterian throughout her life, for many years she ran a feature called ‘Ask Jane’ in “Horizons” – the women’s magazine for the Presbyterian Church of America. She is probably best known for the scores of hymn texts she wrote to familiar tunes (one of them being the words of this morning’s closing hymn). One of the awards she received (‘Women of Faith Award’) states in the citation: “Jane Parker Huber’s creative renderings of fresh words to familiar tunes have inspired Christians to sing hymns with expansive, gender-inclusive language, and re-think all of the images used for God and people.”