March 24 - Fanny Crosby (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous post for March 24th may be found here: Maria Malibran (2019), (2020), Fanny Crosby (2021), Elsa Respighi; John Antes (2022), Maria Malibran (2023), Byron Janis (2024), and Maria Malibran (2025)

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Fanny Crosby (24 March 1820 –12 February 1915) was an American mission worker and poet, particularly of hymns. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High and Low

[S]he is not mentioned in The Hymnal 1982. – Wikipedia

Episcopalian choirmasters tend

To shun the hymns that Fanny Crosby penned.

It's not so much the doctrines they espouse,

It's more about the fervor they arouse,

For heart-on-sleeve exuberance is alien

Where liturgies are pure Episcopalian.

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March 12 - Robert Lowry (The Musical Birthday Series, 8th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 12th may be found here: Thomas Augustine Arne (2019),  Gordon MacRae (2020), Liza Minnelli (2021), Thomas Augustine Arne; Paul Weston (2023), Thomas Augustine Arne (2023), Alexandre Guilmant (2024), and Thomas Augustine Arne (2025)

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Robert Lowry (March 12, 1826 – November 25, 1899) was an American preacher who became a popular writer of gospel music in the mid-to-late 19th century.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shall We?

I do not know if Richard Lowry

Had a daughter with a dowry,

But "Shall We Gather at the River"

Would have earned some cash to give her.

 

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Hymn Time

When hymn composer Robert Lowry

Penned "I Need Thee Every Hour," he

Clearly felt the text sincerely,

And believed that Life, if lived severely,

Freed one from the World (or nearly).

And writing music as a Baptist,

It followed that his texts were aptest,

When sentiments were at their raptest,

So shunning liturgies and creeds, he

Wrote "All the Way My Savior Leads Me."

 

 

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March 9 - Samuel Barber; Phoebe Knapp (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for March 9 are found here:  Martin Shaw (2019), Samuel Barber (2020), Ornette Coleman; Samuel Barber (2021), Samuel Barber; Josef Mysliveček (2023), Samuel Barber (2024), and Samuel Barber (2025)

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Samuel Barber (9 March 1910 – 23 January 1981) was an important American composer in all the major classical genres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Never Say Can't

However, Briselli was disappointed when he received the third movement from Barber; according to Barber, his reasons were that "1st, he could not safely learn it for January; 2nd, it was not violinistic; 3rd, it did not suit musically the other two movements, it seemed to him rather inconsequential." -- Wikipedia, s.v. "Violin Concerto (Barber)"

When Briselli declared the concerto unplayable,

And Barber said words then considered unsayable,

The concerto was played by another performer

Whose reaction was friendlier, braver, and warmer.

And then the concerto that Briselli had slandered

Was quickly endorsed as a repertoire standard.

 

 

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Phoebe Knapp (9 March 1839 –10  July 1908) was an American composer of music for hymns and an organist. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Is Her Story

 

She composed the music for over five hundred hymn.  -- Wikipedia 

The hymns of Phoebe (Palmer) Knapp,

   Though "Blessed Assurance" was one of them,

Have largely fallen off the map,

   In spite of her writing a ton of them.

 

 

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February 10 - Richard Storrs Willis (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for February 10th are here: Leontyne Price (2020), Robert Flack; Leontyne Price (2021), Larry Adler; Jimmy Durante (2022). Leontyne Price (2023), Leontyne Price; Roberta Flack (2024), and Johann Peter Pixis (2025)

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Richard Storrs Willis (10 February 1819 –10 May 1900) was an American composer, mainly of  hymns, remembered for the Christmas hymn "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." He was also a music critic and journal editor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Glorious Song of Old

"It came upon a midnight clear"

Is rarely heard this time of year,

But even though it's not December,

Take a moment to remember,

And join together, you and yours,

And sing for Willis, (Richard Storrs).

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]