This sheet music is part of the collection of crosby3145 :
There are two names in
particular in every hymnal
that are easy to get mixed
up—those of William J.
Kirkpatrick and William B.
Bradbury. It’s easy to see
why. Both lived in America
during the 1800s, both had a
first name of William and a
long last name, and both wrote
a ton of hymns which are still
sung today. So, let there be
no mistake—this is a
collection of hymns by William
Batchelder Bradbury—not the
other guy.
That said, who was William B.
Bradbury? He was born in
York, Maine, October 6, 1816.
The son of a church choir
leader, Bradbury would follow
in his father’s footsteps in
his future career. He picked
up organ as an instrument and
moved to Boston, where he sang
in Lowell Mason’s renowned
Bowdoin Street Choir. Mason
helped the young Bradbury get
a job teaching at three
singing schools in Machias,
Maine, where he remained the
next year-and-a-half. He got
married, then briefly moved to
Canada but returned to Boston
after he failed to garner
interest in his work. There,
Mason found another job for
him—this time as organist at
First Baptist Church in
Brooklyn, New York, in 1840.
A year later, he moved to the
Baptist Tabernacle in
Brooklyn, where he served not
only as organist but also as
choir director—and also, he
taught singing schools for
children.
This would be a good time to
point out that much of
Bradbury’s work was geared
towards children. “Jesus
Loves Me” and “Savior,
Like a Shepherd Lead Us” are
two of the famous children’s
songs he wrote. J. H. Hall
noted that Bradbury’s parts
did not always flow that
smoothly; this is easily
evident in “The Solid
Rock.” However, the real
secret to Bradbury’s success
at children’s hymns was the
conciseness, simplicity of
rhythm, and repetitive nature
with which he wrote them.
These make them easily
accessible to the less musical
members of the congregation,
but they remain popular with
the more musical ones
because—for lack of a better
way to put it—they just
sound wonderful.
Though Bradbury started out
teaching singing school at the
Baptist Tabernacle, he was
soon teaching all over the
city. Eventually, he started
a Juvenile Music Festival, in
which a thousand children
would put on a choral concert.
“When all were ready, a
chord was struck on the piano
— a thousand children
instantly arose, presenting a
sight that can be far more
easily imagined than
described,” Hall writes.
“Of the musical effect
produced by such a chorus we
will not attempt to speak,”
he adds, wisely. He does
note, though, that this was
one of the premier annual
musical events in New York
City for many years. Not a
premier church music event—a
premier musical event, period!
If only the love of God was
as prominent in today’s
popular entertainment.
Bradbury, in fact, was
instrumental in furthering
public musical education as
well. When he first arrived
in New York, the public
schools didn’t teach music,
and Bradbury would staunchly
advocate for its inclusion at
his music festivals. His
influence led to New York
public schools adopting the
subject as part of their
curriculum—though you
probably wouldn’t hear that
from them today, it’s
true.
Bradbury started publishing
music books during this
time—he would compile 59
books of songs before the end
of his lifetime. In 1847,
like a lot of American
composers in the 1800s, he
went to Europe
(Germany—1847) to study with
master musicians over there.
Arriving in Leipzig that
September, he attended
Mendelssohn’s funeral,
expressing his sorrow to have
not met the man before. He
did, however, study with other
notable teachers—Wenzel for
piano and organ, Boehme for
voice, and Hauptmann for
harmony. He travelled around
to different schools in
Germany, observing German
methods of musical education
in research that he would use
back home upon his return to
America. While in Europe, he
also met Jenny Lind, unknown
at the time to American
audiences.
Upon his return in 1849,
Bradbury went straight back to
work in music—teaching,
putting on conventions,
writing music and publishing
it in books, and editing the
same. Plus building pianos.
He started this with his
brother, Edward, in 1851, and
the Bradbury pianos “at one
time were quite popular,”
according to Hall. Bradbury
lived through the Civil War
before passing away at his
residence in Montclair, New
Jersey, January 7, 1868. It
is safe to say that his work
paved the way for future
generations of hymnwriters who
would come along, and his
influence lives on today. I
hope you enjoy this
collection!