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There Is a Fountain

There Is a Fountain
Anonymous


Piano solo
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Download MP3 (2.27 Mo)54x⬇ 247x

Composer
Anonymous
Anonymous
Instrumentation

Piano solo

Style

Hymn - Sacred

Arranger
Anonymous
Zisi, Matthew
CopyrightCopyright © Matthew Zisi
Stirring arrangement of classic hymn There Is a Fountain, perfect for prelude, offertory, or other special service music.
Added by crosby3145, 05 Nov 2018

1 comment



By nicholea, at 18:13
nicholea

The music as well as the words were indeed written by William Cowper. - Nichole A Cowper
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This sheet music is part of the collection of crosby3145 :
Work, for the Night Is Coming and Nine Other Hymns by Lowell Mason

It’s an undisputable fact of history that the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation—Christian in its beliefs. Thus, it should come as no surprise that America has spawned a great number of composers who used their talents to write hymns. America is a relatively young nation, though, so it is easier for us to trace the history of hymnwriters in this country/ This enables us to comfortably dub Lowell Mason the “Father of American Church Music.”
Mason was born January 8, 1792, in Medfield, Massachusetts, where he grew up. A talented musician, by the age of 17 he was already the music director at First Parish church in Medfield. By the time he was an adult, he had moved to Savannah, Georgia. There, he worked at a dry-goods store before eventually becoming a banker, but he continued to study music during this time. He taught himself a lot and also received lessons from Frederick L. Abel. While in Savannah, he began to write music, and he also directed the choir and served as organist at the Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah. Additionally, he spearheaded the creation of the first Sunday school for black children in the United States.
Back during this time, the words to many hymns had not necessarily become associated with specific tunes. In Jonathan Edwards’s day, for instance, the words and then a tune would be called out, and the congregation would attempt to put them together. Over in Great Britain, though, publishers had already started pairing words and tunes in hymnals, and Mason sought to do the same over here. He compiled a hymnal that used tunes from many classical composers for religious words. Publishers were reluctant to accept it at first, but Dr. G. K. Jackson, Boston’s toughest music critic, took a liking to it and helped it get published by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston took it in 1822. Jackson’s instincts were correct; the hymnal was a success. An anonymous success, because at this time, Mason was still concentrating on a career as a banker, and he didn’t want his musical endeavors to thwart his career prospects. Though he failed to take credit for it, the hymnal became very popular with singing schools and church choirs, running through 17 editions. This hymnal was the first of about 50 such publications.
Mason moved back to Boston in 1827 and, though he continued his banking, he became the organist at Park Street Church in Boston from 1829 to 1831. His talents were so in demand, he was named the music director at three different churches—duties he handled by rotating between them every six months. One of them was the Hanover Street Church, pastored by fervent abolitionist Lyman Beecher. Eventually, Mason gave up those three to focus on directing the music at the Bowdoin Street church, developing the choir into a group which became renowned for its excellence.
It was understood by Mason that in order to sing your best, you must be taught, and so Mason worked to get music added as part of Massachusetts public schools’ curriculum. He was successful, and he taught it himself in Boston schools, becoming the music superintendent for Boston schools in 1838. During this time, he set to music a song that’s not normally thought of as a hymn, but which is one of the most famous nursery rhymes of all time—Mary Had a Little Lamb. For whatever reason, the people of Massachusetts could be fickle in their support of religious leaders—Jonathan Edwards, for instance, was voted out of his congregation not too long after the Great Awakening. Mason, likewise, was forced out of his music superintendent role in 1845, but music itself has endured in the Massachusetts public school curriculum to today. Horace Mann, the father of public school education in America, said he would walk 50 miles if he had to just to see Mason teach music.
Boston was not the only place where Mason’s teaching had an influence. He early on became a fan of Teacher’s Conventions, and he hosted ones that brought in teachers from several states, who learned his techniques and returned home to use them in their towns. Mason helped in classes in surrounding towns, hosting a particularly notable class in North Reading Massachusetts. Later, after he had moved to New York, he travelled to Rochester, teaching a choir of five hundred.
Mason eventually became president of the Handel and Haydn Society. Additionally, he co-founded the Boston Academy of Music. He taught music to thousands, including his own children, several of whom also went on to be composers and musicians. William Mason was a famous composer, and Lowell Jr. and Henry founded a famous organ company. Mason also mentored the young William B. Bradbury, another famous hymnwriter, and found him a couple of music jobs.
Despite losing his school job, Mason remained active in the Boston music scene until 1851. He moved to New York City, but shortly thereafter set sail to Europe, which he toured in 1852. While there, he observed European music schools, taking notes on their techniques. He was very impressed with the congregational singing he heard over there, particularly in Leipzig and Dresden. When he returned to New York in 1853, it was with a new musical philosophy. He became music director at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City and disbanded the choir and orchestra, opting for only congregational singing, with organ accompaniment. This focus on congregational singing gave the church the reputation of having the best in America’s largest city. Mason, Edwards A. Parks, and Austin Phelps co-published another hymnal in 1859, the Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book.
At 68, Mason finally retired in 1860 and moved to Orange, New Jersey, remaining active in its Congregational Church for the rest of his life. He died August 11, 1872, 80 years old, at his estate of Silverspring. At his death, he donated his vast musical library to Yale.
Charles C. Perkins attributed Mason’s success to three factors. First, Mason was talented, but not so talented as to be too far ahead of the average church musician—he wrote and taught music that was readily learnable. Second, Mason was a natural at teaching. Finally, Mason was muchly self-taught, a man who could readily understand how the untrained could learn music—he himself had done it, and excelled.
Mason’s objective as a hymnwriter was to get tunes paired with hymns, and some of his most famous pairings are tunes he only identified, rather than wrote. He took an aria from the Handel Opera, Siroe, and made the tune most famous as the music for “Joy to the World.” A tune most likely written by Mozart became the music for “His Matchless Worth” (included here). Mason didn’t just use classical tunes, though. Other famous pairings of his, included in this collection, are “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (adapted from a Gregorian chant) and “”There Is a Fountain” (arranged from an American folk melody).
Still, Mason wrote his own music as well—in fact, he wrote over 1600 hymn tunes in his life. His most famous, probably, are “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” “Work for the Night Is Coming,” “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” and “My Faith Looks Up to Thee.” All of these are included here, along with “Safely through Another Week,” “Hark! 10,000 Harps and Voices,” and “Hail to the Brightness.” Even though many hymnwriters have come along since Mason, these hymns have all managed to remain in the hymnbooks—several of them have remained famous. I hope they are a blessing to you as you play them!
NOTE: For When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, see To God Be the Glory and Nine Other Hymns for Solo Piano
NOTE: For His Matchless Worth, see Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee and Nine Other Classical Hymns
NOTE: For Safely through Another Week, see It Is Well with My Soul and Nine Other Hymns for Solo Piano
Sheet music list :
› Mason, Lowell : From Greenland's Icy Mountains
› Mason, Lowell : Hail to the Brightness
› Mason, Lowell : Hark! 10,000 Harps and Voices
› Mason, Lowell : My Faith Looks Up to Thee
› Mason, Lowell : Nearer, My God, to Thee
› Anonymous : There Is a Fountain
› Mason, Lowell : Work, for the Night Is Coming