The Author:

Sarah Flower Adams was born in 1805 at Harlow, Essex, England, about twenty-seven miles north-northeast of London.  She was the youngest daughter of Benjamin Flower, a journalist, publisher and politician.  It is believed that Benjamin was the editor of the Cambridge Intelligencer for a time, which was thought to be a rather radical newspaper.   

Sarah is reported to have been interested in literature at an early age.  She was of the Unitarian faith and it is said that her pastor was reform-minded and published The Repository, a newspaper of advanced ideas to which she and her husband-to-be, William Bridges Adams, a civil or railway engineer, contributed.  It is believed that she was a friend of Leigh Hunt, Robert Browning and other literary figures of the day.

Sarah Adams wrote many magazine articles, poems, and hymns.  It is said that the Hymns and Anthems volume in which “Nearer, My God, to Thee” first appeared in 1841 contained twelve other pieces by her.  It was published by William Johnson Fox, the minister of the South Place Unitarian Church, Finsbury, London, which church she attended at the time.  It is believed that “Nearer, My God, to Thee” was written in response to a request by Reverend Fox for a song to conclude a sermon on Jacob and Esau and that Sarah spent a week in prayer and scripture study while writing the text.  It is interesting to note that, although a Unitarian and thereby believing in only one God, and denying the divinity and mission of Christ, her hymn has been adopted and sung by Christians everywhere.

Sarah is believed to have been close to her only sibling, her sister, Eliza, who was an accomplished musician, and with whom she worked and consulted.   It is said that Sarah cared for Eliza when she was stricken by tuberculosis.   The disease eventually claimed Sarah’s life also, two years after her sister.  She died in 1848 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, England at the age of forty-three.

The Composer:

Lowell Mason was born in 1792 at Medfield, Massachusetts, about twenty miles southwest of Boston.  It is said that he showed a great interest and ability in music from his childhood on, and attended his first singing-school in about 1805.  He had a practical side, however, and worked as a bank clerk in his early years, living in Savannah, Georgia and pursuing music on the side.  He is said to have been a charter member of the First Presbyterian Church there, and served as choir director and organist.  It is believed that he studied harmony and composition with Frederick L. Abel, and began composing and arranging his own music.  He sent a collection of his work to numerous publishers in Philadelphia and Boston, but was rejected until about 1822 when the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Massachusetts accepted him and published The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music.  The collection did not carry his name, though, as at that time he was a bank officer and did not wish to be known as a musical man, not intending to ever make music his profession.

This often rejected collection became a great success, however, reportedly selling tens of thousands of copies, and being adopted by New England singing schools and church choirs.  This success brought him back to Massachusetts about 1826, and he began part-time work as a church director of music while holding a job as a bank teller.  He compiled what is believed to be the first Sunday-School collection with music, the Juvenile Psalmist.  It is said that he served for fourteen years at the Bowdoin Street Church.

In Boston it is believed Lowell became the first music teacher at an American public school, co-founding the Boston Academy of Music with George Webb.   He became music superintendent of the Boston school system about 1838 and it is said that during his career he traveled in Europe and brought back English, French and German music, expanding available resources for music education.   His efforts have led some to refer to him as the “Father of American music education.”

His musical career also produced over 1,600 religious works and he is commonly known as the “Father of American church music.”  His efforts to improve the music in the churches of America have had lasting impact.  The current LDS Hymnal contains five of his compositions and arrangements, including Joy to the World.

Lowell Mason concluded his long and productive life in 1872 at Orange, New Jersey.