William Beery

William Beery (born April 8, 1852 in Bremen , Hocking County , Ohio , † January 29, 1956 in Elgin , Kane County , Illinois ) was an American composer .

Life

Family and education

The musically gifted William Beery, son of the farmer Daniel Beery (born January 29, 1812 in Fairfield , Butler County , Ohio; † November 7, 1891 in Marion , Ohio) and his wife Fanny née Good (born December 21, 1816 in Fairfield, Butler County, Ohio; † January 28, 1892 in Marion, Ohio), attended the singing school at the Replogle Church of the Brethren in Woodbury , Pennsylvania from the age of 12 , at the age of 15 he was given the direction of this, as well he led the singing school at the Old Diehl's Cross Roads Church of the Brethren in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1878 he enrolled in Brethrens Normal College, renamed Juniata College in 1893, in Huntingdon in the state of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a Bachelor of Education (English) in 1882 . He also studied at the Summer Music Schools with N. Coe Stewart in Cleveland , Ohio and with SW Straub in Chicago . He completed his musical training with one of the first leading musicians , educators and composers of the Brethren Church , namely John Cook Ewing (1849–1937).

William Beery married on June 20, 1888 in Morris , Illinois, the hymn poet Adaline nee Hohf (born December 20, 1859 in Hanover , York County , Pennsylvania, † February 24, 1929 in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois). The tenor , conductor and music teacher Leon Felix Beery (born February 15, 1891 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, † March 20, 1974 in Virginia , St. Louis County , Minnesota ) came from the connection.

Professional background

After his vocal teaching activities, William Beery ran a farm in Illinois from 1875, and in 1877 he took the position of Country School Teacher in Bremen, Ohio. A year later Beery moved as a singing professor at Juniata College in Huntingdon, a position he held interrupted by assignments as teacher and director of singing schools in Ohio from 1885 to 1889 until 1910. Beery, who also acted there as a curator from 1878 to 1908, was also employed as a music teacher at public schools in Huntingdon from 1889 to 1891.

William Beery moved with his family to Elgin in 1910, where he initially ran a bookstore before he took up a position as an editor at Brethren Publishing House in 1914 . From 1932 to 1942 he then held assistant positions at the hymnologist and composer Dr. Alvin Frantz Brightbill (1903-1976) led music institutes, he also worked for three years as a music teacher at the School of Maturates in Elgin. William Beery, who traveled the United States by car in his 80s and attended the Alexander Mack Christian Camp in Milford, Indiana from 1935 to 1953 , appeared on a show broadcast on the Chicago TV station WLS on the occasion of his 103rd birthday . He also worked for years as a deacon of the Brethren Church and as a song leader, equivalent to a program director, for the General Music Company.

The compositional work of the eminent music professor and hymnologist William Beery comprises more than 100 religious hymns, some of which were written by his wife Adaline Hohf Beery.

Works

Compositions

• Hymn tune Cherwell, Huntingdon, 1879
• Take my hand and lead me, Father. Hymn Voice and piano, text: Gertrude A. Flory, 1889
• Lo, a gleam from yonder heaven. Hymn, text: His wife Adaline Hohf Beery, 1896
• Hymn tune Berne, 1929
• Hymn tune John Naas, 1944
• Invocation hymn, text: Ruth B. Statler
• Love of God, eternal love, text: Mary Stoner Vine

Fonts

• Gospel chimes: a collection of new and standard songs and hymns for Sunday schools and religious meetings, Brethren's Pub. Co., Huntington, Pa., 1889
• Singing in the Sunday school, Board of Christian Education, Church of the Brethren, Elgin, Illinois, 1919
• Brethren hymns, hymnals, authors and composers: a study in our literary and musical heritage, Board of Christian Education, Church of the Brethren, Elgin, Illinois, 192-
• Stories about hymns, Brethren Pub. House, Elgin, Illinois, 1921
• with Margueritte Bixler Garrett: History and message of hymns, Elgin Press, Elgin, Illinois, 1924
• John Cook Ewing; Pioneer Musician, Teacher and Composer: His Life and Work, 1849-1937, 1942
• together with Judith Beery Garber: Beery family history, Printed by the Brethren Pub. House, Elgin, Illinois, 1957

literature

• John Heckman, John Ezra Miller: Brethren in northern Illinois and Wisconsin, Brethren Pub. House, Elgin, Ill., 1941, p. 151.
• Church of the Brethren. Western District of Pennsylvania. Historical Committee: Two centuries of the Church of the Brethren in Western Pennsylvania, 1751-1950, Brethren Pub. House, Elgin, Ill., 1953, pp. 119, 133, 463.
• Ruth Beeghly Statler, Nevin Wishard Fisher: Handbook on Brethren hymns, Brethren Press, Elgin, Ill., 1959, p. 68.
• Felice D Levy, Facts on File, Inc: Obituaries on file, Volume I (AR), Facts on File, New York, 1979, p. 48.
• The Brethren encyclopedia, Volume 1, Brethren Encyclopedia, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, 1983, p. 111.
• Carl Desportes Bowman: Brethren society: the cultural transformation of a "peculiar people", Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md., 1995, pp. 162, 409, 442.
• Nancy Siegel: Juniata College: uncommon visions of Juniata's past, in: College history series; Images of America; Images of America: a history of American life in images and texts, Arcadia, Charleston, SC, 2000, p. 21.

Web links

• William Beery at WorldCat
• William Beery at composers-classical-music.com; Retrieved July 3, 2013
• William Beery at yellowbrickjourney.blogspot.co.at; Retrieved July 3, 2013