Events in Music
Reform of the Chant
1577-10-25 Pope Gregory XIII give a brief to Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Annibale Zoilo Romano to reform ecclesiastical hymns
Birthdays in Music
- 1607-03-08 Johann von Rist, German composer and poet known for his hymns, born in Ottensen, County of Holstein-Pinneberg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1667)
- 1607-03-12 Paul Gerhardt, German Luthern hymnist, born in Gräfenhainichen, Electorate of Saxony (d. 1676)
- 1674-07-17 Isaac Watts, English writer, preacher and hymnist (Horae Lyrican), born in Southampton, England (d. 1748)
- 1707-12-18 Charles Wesley, English Methodist leader (brother of John Wesley) and hymn writer (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing), born in Epworth, England (d. 1788)
- 1725-07-24 John Newton, English cleric and hymnist, born in Wapping, London (d. 1807)
- 1740-11-04 Augustus Montague Toplady, English hymn writer (Rock of Ages), born in Farnham, Surrey, England (d. 1778)
- 1743-06-20 Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet and writer of hymns (Life! I Know Not What Thou Art), born in Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England (d. 1825)
- 1746-05-13 Oliver Brownson, American composer, and music publisher, mostly of hymns, born in Bolton, Connecticut (d. 1815)
- 1793-01-18 William Henry Havergal, British composer, hymn writer, and Anglican clergyman, born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England (d. 1870)
- 1813-03-20 Matthias Keller, German hymn writer (O Farther un High), born in Ulm, Württemberg (d. 1875)
- 1819-02-10 Richard Storrs Willis, American composer, mostly of hymns ("Carol"; "Fairest Lord Jesus"), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1900)
- 1820-03-24 Fanny Crosby, American hymnist known as the "Queen of Gospel Song Writers", born in Brewster, New York (d. 1915)
- 1822-01-07 Theodor Aufrecht, German linguist, Indologist, and translator (Rigveda's Hymns), born in Leschnitz, Prussian Silesia (d. 1907)
- 1839-03-09 Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer and organist, born in New York City (d. 1908)
- 1840-08-28 Ira D. Sankey, American evangelist, composer and singer (Gospel hymns), born in Edinburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1908)
- 1903-03-22 Jochen Klepper, German writer, journalist, and hymnist, born in Beuthen, Silesia, Germany (d. 1942)
- 1920-02-16 Lee Russell, American big band vocalist (Vincent Lopez), missionary and hymn writer, born in Cleveland, Ohio
- 1921-11-01 John W. Peterson, American hymn writer ("It Took a Miracle"), publisher and editor (Singspiration), born in Lindsborg, Kansas (d. 2006)
- 1925-08-09 Robert Heppener, Dutch composer (Hymns & Conversations for 28 Harps; Memento), born in Amsterdam (d. 2009)
- 1930-10-29 Natalie Sleeth, American composer of hymns and choral music, born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 1992)
Deaths in Music
- 1609-12-04 Alexander Hume, Scottish poet (Hymns and Sacred Songs), dies
- 1667-08-31 Johann von Rist, German composer and poet known for his hymns, dies at 60
- 1676-06-07 Paul Gerhardt, German Luthern hymnist, dies at 69
- 1706-12-03 Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German countess and hymn writer, dies at 69
- 1711-03-19 Thomas Ken, English bishop and hymn-writer (b. 1637)
- 1715-02-03 Gottfried Vopelius, German Lutheran scholar and hymn writer, dies at 70
- 1748-11-25 Isaac Watts, English writer, preacher and hymnist (Horae Lyrican), dies at 74
- 1778-08-11 Augustus Montague Toplady, British hymn writer (Rock of Ages), dies at 37
- 1783-01-07 William Tans'ur, English hymnist, dies at 76
- 1788-03-29 Charles Wesley, English Methodist leader (brother of John Wesley) and hymn writer (Hark! The Herald Angels Sing), dies at 80
- 1791-01-11 William Williams Pantycelyn, Welsh hymnist (b. 1717)
- 1800-04-25 William Cowper, English pre-romantic poet (Olney Hymns), dies at 68
- 1803-04-02 Hieronymus van Alphen, Dutch poet of children's poems (Proeve van kleine gedigen voor Kinder), dies at 56
- 1807-12-21 John Newton, English cleric and hymnist, died at 82
- 1825-03-09 Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet and writer of hymns (Life! I Know Not What Thou Art), dies at 81
- 1826-04-03 Reginald Heber, English bishop & hymn writer, dies at 42
- 1835-05-16 Felicia Dorothea Hemans, English-Welsh poet ("The boy stood on the burning deck", "The stately homes of England"), dies of dropsy at 41
- 1900-05-10 Richard Storrs Willis, American composer, mostly of hymns ("Carol"; "Fairest Lord Jesus"), dies at 81
- 1907-04-03 Theodor Aufrecht, German linguist, Indologist and translator (Rigveda's Hymns), dies at 85
- 1908-07-10 Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer and organist, dies at 69
- 1908-08-13 Ira D. Sankey, American evangelist, singer, composer and publisher (Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs), dies at 67
- 1942-12-11 Jochen Klepper, German writer, journalist, and hymnist, commits suicide with his family as they faced Nazi persecution at 39
- 2006-09-20 John W. Peterson, American hymn writer ("It Took a Miracle"), publisher and editor (Singspiration), dies of prostate cancer at 84
- 2009-08-25 Robert Heppener, Dutch composer (Hymns & Conversations for 28 Harps; Memento), dies at 84