Lewis Redner

Lewis Henry Redner (* 15. Dezember 1831 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; † 29. August 1908 in Atlantic City, New Jersey) war ein amerikanischer Organist und Komponist. Sein bekanntestes Lied ist das Weihnachtslied St. Louis, bekannt als O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Biografie

Lewis Henry Redner arbeitete im Immobiliengeschäft in Philadelphia. Im Ehrenamt war er Organist und diente in seinem Leben in vier Kirchengemeinden. 19 Jahre lang war er Organist an der Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. 1868 bat ihn der Pastor Phillips Brooks ein Gedicht zu vertonen, das seine Erinnerungen an eine Pilgerreise nach Bethlehem darstellte. Das Lied sollte am Heiligen Abend in der Sonntagsschule gesungen werden. Redner berichtete später, er habe diesen Auftrag zunächst aufgeschoben, in der Nacht zum Sonntag aber, für den er die Melodie zugesagt hatte, sei ihm im Schlaf ein Engel erschienen und habe ihm die Noten eingegeben.^[1] Das Lied wurde auch durch einen Chorsatz von Ralph Vaughan Williams berühmt, der allerdings auf einer anderen Melodie beruht.

Redner hat nie geheiratet. Sehr engagiert war er in Wohltätigkeitsvereinen. Unter anderem war er im Komitee der Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, einem Obdachlosenheim mit Suppenküche.^[2]

Er starb am 29. August 1908 im „Hotel Marlborough“ in Atlantic City, New Jersey und wurde auf dem Woodlands Cemetery in Philadelphia beigesetzt.

Einzelnachweise

↑ Carlton A. Young: Companion to the United Methodist Hymnals. Abingdon Press 1993, S. 519: As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the tune to it. The simple music was written in great haste and under great pressure. We were to practice it on the following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on Friday, and said, ‘Redner, have you ground out that music yet to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”?’ I replied, ‘No,’ but that he should have it by Sunday. On the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. I thought more about my Sunday-school lesson than I did about the music. But I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas of 1868. (Nach dem Briefwechsel Louis F. Benson mit Redner von 1901)
↑ Harold E. Pickersgill: A Biographical Album of Prominent Pennsylvanians Volume 3. In: eBooks Read. eBooks Read, abgerufen am 14. Juli 2015.

Weblinks

Personendaten
NAME	Redner, Lewis
ALTERNATIVNAMEN	Redner, Lewis Henry (vollständiger Name)
KURZBESCHREIBUNG	amerikanischer Organist und Komponist
GEBURTSDATUM	15. Dezember 1831
GEBURTSORT	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
STERBEDATUM	29. August 1908
STERBEORT	Atlantic City, New Jersey

[1] Carlton A. Young: Companion to the United Methodist Hymnals. Abingdon Press 1993, S. 519: As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the tune to it. The simple music was written in great haste and under great pressure. We were to practice it on the following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on Friday, and said, ‘Redner, have you ground out that music yet to “O Little Town of Bethlehem”?’ I replied, ‘No,’ but that he should have it by Sunday. On the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. I thought more about my Sunday-school lesson than I did about the music. But I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas of 1868. (Nach dem Briefwechsel Louis F. Benson mit Redner von 1901)

[2] Harold E. Pickersgill: A Biographical Album of Prominent Pennsylvanians Volume 3. In: eBooks Read. eBooks Read, abgerufen am 14. Juli 2015.

[1]

[2]