Handbook to the Mennonite HymnaryHostetler, Lester
Religion
Handbook to the Mennonite Hymnary
Hostetler, Lester
Hymns, English -- History and criticism; Mennonites -- Hymns -- History and criticism
CORONATION (No. 4) was composed by Oliver Holden. He had little formal
training in music and was a carpenter by trade. He was born in Shirley,
Mass., Sept. 18, 1765. After the English burned Charlestown, across the
river from Boston, Holden helped in the task of rebuilding and made
considerable money. Later he engaged in the real estate business, owned
a music store, and all the while led choirs and singing schools. He was
elected representative to the Congress. He was an influential citizen
and a prominent member of the Baptist Church. However, he is remembered
by posterity as the composer of this much-loved tune.
DIADEM (No. 5) is an effective tune widely used on anniversary
occasions. The composer, James Ellor, an English Methodist, was born in
Lancashire in 1819. He was not a professional musician, but a hatter by
trade. For a time he worked as a railway employee. While still a young
man, he came to America, where he worked at the hatmaking trade. For
some years before his death in 1899, he was nearly blind. This tune was
composed when Ellor was only 19 years old. It was written especially for
this hymn and has had wide use as a choir number.
6. Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim _Charles Wesley_, 1707-88
This hymn by Charles Wesley, perhaps the greatest hymnist of all ages,
was No. 1 in a collection published in 1774 and entitled, _Hymns for
Times of Trouble and Persecution_. The original had six stanzas and was
marked, “To be sung in a tumult.” The Wesleys knew the meaning of
persecution and tumults. They were often attacked by godless men who
used physical violence. Hoodlums were known to try to break up their
meetings by blowing horns, ringing bells, or barking in front of the
preacher. Sometimes cattle were driven into the congregation. The
Wesleys were also opposed by the clergy and people of the established
church who hated the upheavals and disturbances these men caused in the
staid and stolid church life of the times. Nothing could stop the
Wesleys or repress their enthusiasm. John, who once thanked God for
getting together such a “congregation of drunkards, swearers, and
Sabbath breakers,” continued his preaching; and Charles his hymn
writing. With the early apostles, the Wesleys could say, “We cannot but
speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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